Sticks and Stones
by Heartlocket1004
Summary: Rachel was the girl stuck in Maze B who figures a way out, with the help of the only boy in their maze, Aris. Now, they're being held in a supposed anti-WCKD facility, and we know her to be lost there. But what if she was more? What if she was followed Thomas out into the Scorch? And what if she caught the eye of the British Second-in-Command? Follows movie (Newt x OC Rachel)
1. New Faces

* A/N I do not own Maze Runner, or any of its characters. I do not own Rachel's name, only the personality and storyline that I have written in addition to the original plot. Contains spoilers for the movies and possibly the books. Also WARNING: mild swearing, as there was in the film.

Rachel watched the group of boys curiously. They were the latest to join them, and had apparently been in Maze A- the maze experiment with all boys. They were currently staring around the canteen with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing. She could understand that- she hadn't been able to believe it herself when her group had made it out the maze only to find they weren't the only ones.

Rachel examined the group before her. At the front and center of the group was an Asian boy with spiked hair. His fit body suggested he'd been a Navigator in the maze, and his position spoke of leadership. Next to him was a tall blond who seemed to control the group as he spoke to them calmly, his dark brown eyes roaming around the room uneasily. Behind the two stood the rest making up about six in total.

Rachel sighed. Not many of that group appeared to have made it out either, and she wondered just how many kids had had to die in all these mazes. Suddenly, the blond caught her looking, and they locked eyes. She jumped a little as he stared intently, but met his gaze evenly.

They were broken out of it when the Asian boy nudged his friend, and the group moved off to grab trays and get food. She watched silently as they filed into a line to get food before they wandered off to sit with another group of boys.

Rachel turned to Aris, who was sitting next to her at the edge of their table, and whispered: "What do you think?"

He looked over at the group and sighed.

"Dunno. They don't look too different from the others so far." He muttered back and Rachel nodded.

She glanced back at them, and immediately met eyes with the blond again. He seemed to be looking at her curiously, and Rachel answered with a similar expression. But their attention soon turned to the door as the Asian boy looked up and got up to call: "Thomas!"

Rachel looked over at the new brown-haired boy and frowned.

 _'I know him.'_ She thought.

She glanced at Aris, who had lost the intentional bored expression he usually wore to avoid attention and was also staring at Thomas. Aris glanced at her as Thomas sat down with his friends.

"Do you recognize him?" He asked, and Rachel nodded.

"You?" She asked, and he nodded as well.

"I can't place it, but I've definitely seen him somewhere." He mused, and Rachel nodded, murmuring: "I agree."

They continued to slyly watch the table, but didn't draw attention to themselves, knowing that would not end well. But even so, Rachel noticed that she met eyes with the blond pretty often, despite the fact that his table continued to talk amongst themselves.

He asked something to a boy in front of him, and soon the whole table was glancing at her and Aris. She groaned as she looked away, and Aris was looking down at the milk carton he was holding in his hands.

She knew what they would be saying: she and Aris were among the ones who had been here the longest, almost a week, but what the guys mostly found more interesting was the fact that Aris had been the only guy in their maze. True it had been for a grand total of maybe two days, but still. Apparently, the boys were jealous of him for it.

"Good evening gentlemen, ladies." The man in charge, Janson, called out as he walked in with a group of guards, carrying his clipboard. Rachel tensed while Aris ducked his head further down, both of them listening with fear.

"You all know how this works." Janson continued. "If you hear your name called, please join my colleagues behind me where they will escort you to the Eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin."

There was scattered cheering and applause as the other kids grinned and waited excitedly, hoping to be the ones called this time to be taken to the safe place. Rachel and Aris exchanged dark looks as they sank further into their seats.

Having been here the longest, they had grown very suspicious as time went by. Rachel was now bunking in a room all on her own, and had been since about day four. None of the girls who'd been called had returned, and she and Aris hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something was wrong.

They had confirmed as much when Aris had managed to get his air vent bars open, and snuck out. He'd come over the first night and helped her to get her bars loose too. On day three, they'd witnessed something strange… and since then, they'd gone back to find a pattern to what was happening. And it was terrifying to think about.

"Connor." Janson began to read the names and the two crouched low in apprehension. "Evelyn."

The girl in question stood with a delighted gasp while her friends murmured encouragingly and enthusiastically. "Justin. Peter. Allison. Squiggy."

There was scattered laugher as the boy bounded up with a grin.

"Alright, settle down." Janson smiled at all of them, before he continued to read: "Franklin. And Abigail."

He finished and Rachel sagged just a little bit.

At least she and Aris had made it one more day, although they were beginning to worry about how much longer they could last. The other kids moaned and grumbled and Janson raised his hands in surrender as he said, placating them: "Now, now, don't get discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There's always tomorrow. Your time will come."

Rachel tensed again.

"Go on, eat up." He dismissed them as he left. Everyone returned to eating and chatting amongst themselves. Rachel and Aris glanced at each other. Her fear was reflected in his eyes, as they both wondered how much longer they would be spared.

Rachel glanced back towards the boys, and saw the blond glancing at her briefly. They both quickly looked away, but then Rachel's eyes landed on Thomas. The boy was staring at the windows lining the other side of the canteen.

Rachel looked over and saw a black-haired girl being led through the passage behind the windows, heading towards a different door to the back room, the place where the other kids had just disappeared.

She tensed in fear. This hadn't happened before, but she was pretty sure there was only the one lab behind those doors. So that girl was heading into the same fate as the others.

Thomas suddenly got up, calling: "Hey, Teresa."

Rachel and Aris looked up after Thomas as he moved to the wall, following the girl's progress. Aris removed his hood to take a better look at this new development.

"Teresa!" Thomas called again sharply, watching the girl disappear behind the doors. He moved after her without looking where he was going and Rachel watched as he was stopped by the guards at the door leading out of the canteen.

Aris and Rachel exchanged glances. Aris nodded slowly and Rachel returned it grimly. This boy, Thomas, he was different. He didn't just accept their saviors; he was suspicious of them already. Which meant, he might just be the help they needed to get out of this mess.

* * *

The first thing Rachel did at breakfast the next morning was seek out Aris.

"Did you find him?" She asked and he nodded. Rachel had opted out of going with him because there wouldn't have been enough space in the vents for the three of them to see through the grill near the labs.

"Yeah, and thankfully his air vents were loose- looser even than mine had been." Aris told her, and Rachel nodded in relief. "I told him about the kids being brought into that room every night at 9pm, and he saw last night with me."

Rachel looked up at Aris sharply.

"And?" She asked quietly and Aris nodded over Rachel's shoulder.

"Look for yourself." He whispered.

She did as he said, glancing at the boys' table to see Thomas looking very agitated and tense. Aris pointed out: "He's even more suspicious. Hopefully we'll be able to work something out together, and he'll be able to lead the other kids out, too."

Rachel nodded.

"I told him that you were with me, but you probably want to go say hi at some point." Aris added.

Rachel glanced at the group again, noting the other boys who were all sticking together. None of them seemed alerted to anything strange- so Thomas hadn't confided in them yet.

She decided she'd better bide her time a little longer, so she said to Aris softly: "Maybe later."

* * *

At dinner, they sat at a table closer to the boys, hoping to catch Thomas after dinner. Aris was picking at his food, before he lifted it, examining it while Janson called out the names. Rachel looked over to see the boys looking at them again, and she saw a skeptical look on the Asian's face as he watched them, particularly as he looked at Aris, before they all turned back to Thomas.

Rachel did notice that the boys were now looking generally tenser.

' _So, he's told them then_.' She thought. She and Aris had agreed that if Thomas started to act, they'd join him. Maybe it was time to join them for dinner after this then.

"And, last but not least…" Janson was just finishing his reading. "Rachel."

Her heart almost stopped, and Aris immediately looked at her with terrified eyes.

Rachel stood slowly as the other kids clapped and began to complain. Janson was already turning to go, assuming that she would follow them immediately as eagerly as the other kids did, and Rachel took that opportunity to quickly dart over to the Group A boys.

They looked up, surprised by her abrupt appearance, but Rachel knew she didn't have much time and so focused solely on Thomas as she leant in to whisper urgently: "Help us."

He looked up startled, and the blond - who'd been sitting next to him - stared at her as well, having heard her words.

"What-" Thomas began but the guard had come over.

"What's the hold up?" He demanded, and Rachel answered, while shooting a desperate look over her shoulder at Thomas and then at Aris: "Nothing. I just wanted to wish my friend good luck."

She followed the guard to the door, making it just past when there was a commotion behind her.

She glanced back to see Thomas trying to get through the doors, first trying to persuade the guard, before launching at him physically. Rachel's heart leapt, and she paused, but the guard behind her just shoved her roughly forward.

She stumbled into a room, where all the kids were standing, looking confused, and looked back to where the doors had shut and locked after her. Her heart thundered as she turned back to face the room and she swallowed. A nurse pointed her towards a bed, and Rachel slowly moved to her spot, willing her heavy feet to move.

"Now, just as a safety measure, we'll be giving you some vitamin shots." The head doctor told them as nurses came up next to each kid.

Rachel glanced down in fear, staring at the clear liquid in the syringe. She swallowed hard, but didn't resist as the nurse stabbed the needle in.

 _'Please, Aris. Thomas. Do something quick.'_ She prayed in her mind as her vision clouded.

She heard gasps from the kids as they swayed. Rachel's legs gave out and she fell back but someone caught her, laying her on the bed. The last image that swirled in her hazy mind before everything faded into black was the blond haired boy's face.

* * *

Newt P.O.V.

They were all shoved back into their room, the door locking behind them like it had last night, leaving Newt and the others trapped and frustrated.

"What the hell was that about?" Minho demanded as they all turned to Thomas.

The shank had to go and cause trouble, trying to get through the doors after Teresa. Or maybe it was the girl, Rachel. He paused as he thought about the brown haired girl.

Newt didn't know what it was, but he'd been drawn to her from the first time their eyes had met. She'd looked at him with those bright grey eyes, and he'd seen a fear deep inside them. It made him uneasy, even if he didn't want to admit it. Thomas's recount of what had happened last night with the kid called Aris had not improved his mood.

He sighed now, as he asked Thomas in exasperation: "You didn't really think they were just gonna let you through?"

Thomas looked at him like he was an idiot.

"No, of course I didn't." He replied before he lifted his hand to show the security card he'd swiped from the guard he'd had a tussle with earlier.

"Oh…" They all whispered, half groaning at the sight, while Thomas said firmly: "I'm going to find out what's on the other side of that door."

"All right." Newt muttered, irritably crossing his arms across his chest.

Thomas must've seen both the irritation and continued skepticism on Newt's face because he started to try and persuade the blonde as he said urgently: "Newt, they're hiding something. Okay?"

When none of them really reacted, Thomas continued: "These people are not who they say they are."

He began to turn away, heading for his bunk and Newt couldn't believe what was happening. Two years of stress in the maze, and when they'd barely escaped with their lives he'd hoped to find peace. But this shank couldn't just let things be.

"No, Thomas," Newt said sharply, making the other boy turn back to him as he himself stepped forward, "you don't know that."

The other boys came to stand behind Newt, backing him up as he continued angrily: "The only thing that we do know is that they helped rescue us from WCKD."

Newt gestured around to prove his point as he rattled off: "They gave us new clothes, they gave us food, they gave us a proper bed. Some of us haven't had that in a long time."

Thomas began to protest and Newt finally added sternly: "Some of us a lot longer than others."

Thomas closed his mouth at that, knowing where Newt was coming from. Newt was thinking about what might be best for all of them. But as the words left his mouth, Newt felt a twinge of guilt.

He recalled Rachel's fear, her desperate plea before she'd essentially been dragged away, and he couldn't help but wonder what was really going on.

Suddenly there was a clatter and they all looked down to see a metal grill being shoved across the floor from below Thomas's bunk.

Newt stared as he saw the boy, Aris, crawl in and look up, greeting: "Hey, Thomas."

"What the…?" Frypan murmured as they all peered down at the boy who'd literally just popped up out of nowhere.

"You get it, yeah?" Aris was asking Thomas as Minho turned to Newt, asking incredulously: "Who is this kid?"

Before Newt could say anything, Thomas replied to the younger boy: "Yeah, let's go."

Newt placed his hands on his hips in exasperation as Thomas moved to join the kid. Thomas saw and he said to them: "Alright, look, maybe you guys are right, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

He crawled to place his legs in the air vent as he said desperately: "But I've got to find out for sure. Just cover for me. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Thomas disappeared into the vent after Aris, and Newt looked to the door. He rubbed a hand down his face in a mix of exasperation but also fear. If there really was something going on here, then what would it mean for them? And what if that something was happening to Rachel right now?

*A/N So, this is just something that's been going on in my head for a good year-and-a-half; basically since I watched the film. I've been tweaking with it, unsure if I wanted to publish it – especially because I do have ideas for the books and mostly because I have so much other stuff going on right now – but, eventually decided I should just go ahead and publish it. So I hope you all enjoy!


	2. WCKD

Thomas came back maybe half an hour later, and Newt was alarmed as the grill went flying back across the floor and Thomas crawled in, clearly rattled.

"Thomas?" Minho asked, also picking up on Thomas's panic, but the boy just spun around, muttering hurriedly: "We gotta go."

"What's up?" Minho tried to ask but Thomas just repeated, steadily sounding more and more panicked, saying as he rushed to check the door: "We gotta go, we gotta go! Right now. Come on!"

"What do you mean we've got to go?" Newt asked calmly, trying to get Thomas to actually tell them what was going on, but Thomas suddenly began to strip his bed, saying urgently: "Come on, we've got to go. Come on, they're coming for us!"

Thomas ran back to the door, starting to tie his sheets around the door handle, knotting them and effectively locking the door. Frypan began questioning Aris instead: "What happened in there? Aris, what happened?"

But the younger boy looked just as terrified as Thomas and just stood there, looking shell-shocked. Newt, seeing as they were getting nowhere, tried to get Thomas to focus, saying calmly but firmly: "Thomas, can you just calm down and talk to us."

Thomas didn't stop his frantic antics as he whispered: "She's still alive."

Newt frowned, confused, as Minho joined them, standing behind Newt's shoulder.

"Who's 'she'?" Minho asked while Frypan guessed: "Teresa?"

"Ava." Thomas muttered in terror: "Ava."

"Ava?" Newt repeated in confusion. Thomas didn't respond, still working on tying his sheets firmly onto the door and Newt finally said, completely fed up: "Would you just turn around and talk to us."

Thomas cut in, finally turning around as he shouted in a mix of anger and fear: "It's WCKD!"

Newt's face slacked and fear gripped his heart.

"It's still WCKD." Thomas whispered, moving back towards his bed as he explained: "It's always been WCKD."

He grabbed his mattress this time, pulling it and throwing it onto the door, leaning against it heavily as he fought back his fear. Newt also swallowed his terror as he leaned in to grab Thomas's shoulder.

"Thomas." He said firmly, forcing the other boy to focus on them. The brunette turned to him and Newt demanded calmly but sternly: "What did you see?"

* * *

Rachel woke up groggily. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring into unfamiliar brown eyes. She yelped and punched the face, backing up in panic.

"Ugh!" The face groaned and Rachel's eyes focused to see that it was Thomas.

"Thomas?" She asked confused, before she remembered what had happened.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." She cried, and he just shook his head.

"No, it's fine, just come on!" He tugged her out of the bed, and Rachel looked up in alarm when she heard bashing on the door, hearing Janson's voice yelling orders from behind it.

She looked around and saw all the kids from Group A, including the girl, Teresa, coming closer to her side of the room, backing away from the door.

"We've got to get out of here!" The Asian kid stood in front of the group, pointing a gun at the door. Rachel stared at him.

"Do you even know how to use that?" She asked as she swung her shorts-clad legs out of the bed quickly, while Thomas turned around to look at the window.

He called as he grabbed the stool next to Rachel's bed: "Everyone stand back."

Thomas slammed it against the window, but it bounced off, not even leaving a crack. Rachel moved back just in case anyway as Thomas called: "Newt, help!"

The blonde turned as Thomas called: "Give me a hand!"

Seeing what he wanted, Newt also grabbed a chair and together the two boys smashed the window, glass flying everywhere. Rachel shielded her face with her hands as the others all ducked a little, turning to the sound. Thankfully though, the glass seemed to have all flown outwards and not inwards, so they were mostly safe.

"Go, go, go!" Thomas ordered as soon as the glass shattered.

Rachel grabbed her bed sheet and Teresa joined her as they threw it the window ledge, covering the broken glass while Thomas called to the other guys: "Come on!"

Thomas jumped over, reaching out a hand to the girl, Teresa. She took it and he helped her jump over, after the dark-skinned boy helped her up, while Newt turned to Rachel. He gestured at the ledge, and Rachel hesitated before nodding.

"Yeah, probably." She sighed, and he reached out to help her up, looping his arm around her waist and hauling her up.

Rachel tried not to blush at the contact, but it was difficult when she could feel his warmth through her thin tank top. Newt eased her onto the ledge, careful not to let her bare legs touch the broken glass. Thomas reached out for her hand, and Rachel saw Teresa frown at her but she shrugged it off as she took it and he helped her down. She didn't have time to deal with another girl's petty jealousy, and it was unnecessary anyways- she wasn't interested in Thomas, no matter how familiar he seemed.

The other boys climbed over to join them, the Asian tossing the gun to Thomas before he climbed over last. Thomas caught the gun and led the way out, calling urgently: "Minho!"

When the Asian joined them Thomas continued: "Let's go!"

Thomas opened the door, only to be faced by a soldier. There was a slight pause before Thomas shot. The guard fell with a cry of pain and began to twitch on the ground as the electric bullet shocked him.

Rachel gaped while Thomas looked down at the gun in his hands in horror, muttering: "Shit…"

But he recovered quickly, urging them all out, and they all ran past the twitching and groaning guard. They ran down the corridor, away from Janson and his soldiers, Thomas and Minho in the lead, the dark-skinned boy and Newt behind as they urged the girls forward with them, all checking over their shoulders continually to see if Janson had caught up yet.

"Where's Aris?" Rachel shouted, and Thomas called back: "He said he had something important to do."

"What thing?" Rachel cried, starting to slow down, but Newt grabbed her hand, pulling her along.

"He'll be fine, so come on! You're no help to him if you get caught." He said and Rachel was surprised to hear he had a thick British accent. Rachel hesitated but nodded quickly as she realized he had a point, and began to run faster.

"There it is!" Thomas shouted as they reached the doors leading out of the facility. He reached into his pocket and Rachel blinked to see him pull out a security card.

"Where…?" But she cut herself off- that wasn't what was important right now. They all caught up as Thomas slid the card through the scanner.

The machine beeped.

"Oh, no." Rachel gasped as Thomas tried continually, muttering: "Shit, come on."

But the machine just kept beeping and the doors remained locked.

"No, no, no…!" Thomas muttered and Rachel looked back, before she gasped: "Behind us!"

"Thomas!" Janson called.

The others all turned to see what Rachel had, Janson walking in front of a line of soldiers, looking like a black wall coming towards them. Thomas dropped the card he'd stolen, grabbing his gun as he stepped forward. Rachel gripped Newt's hand tightly as the rest of them backed into the sealed doors, trying to get as far away from Janson as possible.

"Open the door, Janson!" Thomas ordered as he pointed the gun at Janson, and Newt's grip on Rachel's hand also tightened in worry for his friend. Minho had picked up the card and was trying to get it to work while Thomas shouted at Janson who was trying to convince Thomas that he was the good guy.

He was going on about how terrible it was out in the Scorch and how the Cranks, whatever those were, would kill all of them if they went outside. At this point, Minho had given up as well and had backed into the door with the rest of them, shielding Teresa while Newt stood slightly in front of Rachel, shielding her from the approaching wall of guns as Thomas called to Janson sarcastically: "WCKD is good."

Rachel watched Janson's face change, becoming cold and cruel as he said darkly: "You're not getting through that door, Thomas."

At that moment, the door scanner whirred and clicked, and the doors began to slide up and open. Rachel whirled around in surprise and then a relived smile appeared on her face as the doors opened to reveal Aris and one of the Group A boys.

"Hey, guys." Aris said nonchalantly.

"Aris!" Rachel cried in relief and she let go of Newt's hand to run forward, hugging her friend.

The rest of Group A seemed too shocked to move but the dark-skinned boy called: "Come on!"

Rachel turned to urge them through as Newt turned back to Thomas, shouting: "Thomas, come on! Let's go!"

He then moved to join them on the other side and Rachel watched as Thomas sent a few shots at the guards, emptying his cartridge before he turned and bolted for the doors. But Rachel gasped in horror as the door began to slide down.

"No!" Teresa screamed and they all shouted at Thomas encouragingly: "Run!"

"Come on, Thomas!"

The brunette boy slid down and through, just making it out to join them in time to not be squashed. The other boys quickly helped pull their friend up while Aris dashed forward to bash the door controls, effectively locking it down.

"Thomas, what's going on?" Teresa cried, confused, as they all backed away from the door. Rachel moved back next to Newt as she spotted Janson arriving at the door, glaring at them through the window on the door.

She glanced around, noticing the large open corridor that would lead them through the warehouse and then outside. She also saw one of the Group A boys bending down to a fallen soldier's body, picking up a gun.

"Come on." The dark-skinned boy urged and Newt tugged Rachel into a run through the warehouse. She followed, Teresa and Aris beside her. The dark-skinned boy and the one with the gun followed them out while Minho and Thomas came up last. Minho because he'd grabbed a supply backpack, Thomas… because he was busy sending the middle finger at Janson who snarled at them through the window.

The two boys at the back quickly caught up, Thomas pulling ahead.

' _They must've been Navigators.'_ Rachel thought in passing as she noted the power in the two boys' run, but that thought faded as they reached the huge facility main doors, shut firmly with the lever locked into place.

Thomas grabbed the lever, pulling it to the side. Rachel clutched Newt's arm as the locks on the doors clicked, sliding open and the doors began to move, opening to show the sandy dunes that Rachel remembered landing in when they were first brought to this facility.

"Come on!" Thomas urged, and they all dashed out. Newt pulled Rachel's hand back into his as they ran, rushing passed the lit helicopter pad and heading for the large sand dunes. Thomas kept urging them forwards as everyone stumbled up the sand, fighting against the wind as it blew the sand about them.

Minho helped Teresa up while Newt helped Rachel, keeping their hands linked as they all basically crawled up. They had almost made it up the dune when they heard the guards shouting. Rachel glanced back to see a large group of soldiers, all armed with flashlights, starting to pour out of the facility.

"Go, we'll lose them in the storm." Thomas urged as he pushed one of the boys and Rachel turned back to the front. She kept a tight hold on Newt's hand as they made it to the top. Newt glanced back, and seeing the soldiers beginning to mount on quad bikes, he pulled Rachel down and urged the others to follow.

Minho followed quickly, and soon they all lay flat on their stomachs, hiding behind the curve at the top of the dune. Thomas joined them last, and they all peered down, watching the soldiers.

"Go, go, go." Thomas whispered, gesturing for them to all start moving again as some of the soldiers began moving towards their general direction.

"Stay low! Stay low!" He urged and they all crawled away, breaking into a run as they got further out of sight of the facility. Rachel let go of Newt's hand as they ran, moving to be closer to Aris.

"Stick together, it looks like it'll be easy to lose each other!" Newt called when he noticed that Minho quickly disappeared from view when he strayed too far to the side. She looked forward again, and Rachel saw with some surprise that Teresa had taken the lead, running off far ahead.

"We'll lose her." She murmured worriedly, and Thomas clearly felt the same as he called: "Teresa, hang on!"

"I think we lost them!" Minho shouted as the boys kept glancing back to check the group wasn't being followed. But Rachel kept an eye on the girl running far ahead down the dune and heading towards what looked like the top of an abandoned building. The group followed, some falling down the slippery dune sand as they neared the glass roof that poked up out of the sand.

Teresa was walking along the side as Rachel arrived, Newt offering a hand to her so she didn't trip up as one of the two boys she didn't know did right before them. Teresa paused beside a broken pane, and that allowed them to all catch up to her. The other girl glanced at Rachel, who was still clutching Newt's hand as she fought against the grainy sand whipping on her bare legs.

"Come on!" Teresa called before she ducked inside.


	3. Escape

"Teresa, wait!" Thomas called just as someone else called: "Teresa!"

Rachel let go of Newt to duck in, deciding to take her chances inside rather than outside where the sand was scratching all over her legs.

"Rach!" Aris called but Teresa called: "Get down here!"

Rachel had just run down the small hill the sand had formed into when it spilled through the roof, coming to a stop beside the other girl. She peered around as the boys all followed, and she saw that they were on what appeared to be the top floor of the remains of a warehouse of some kind.

Minho pulled to a stop beside the girls, first, and soon all the boys had joined them, looking around warily. Newt and Aris stopped beside Rachel while Minho dug in his backpack. He fished out a flashlight, deeming it safe since the WCKD soldiers wouldn't be able to see the light in here.

He spun slowly, shining the light around and confirming Rachel's thoughts that this place had been long abandoned as they saw bits of cloth hanging in tatters on several beams.

"Where the hell are we?" Minho murmured as he turned in a full circle, coming to face the group.

Thomas urged them further into the warehouse, gesturing for them all to follow him as he said: "We got to go."

Rachel was surprised when Teresa retorted: "No."

Thomas ignored her and Minho made to follow Thomas, when Teresa said sharply: "Thomas, stop!"

The boys turned back to her, and Rachel glanced at Aris while Teresa demanded: "Tell me what's going on."

Rachel suddenly realized that this girl had no idea what was happening- she had been taken away and kept under inspection of some kind, so she hadn't had any explanation about what had been happening at the WCKD facility. Thomas came forward to explain to the girl, and in doing so explained to all of them since only he and Aris had seen what WCKD was doing.

"It's WCKD." Thomas said softly. "It's WCKD, they lied to us. We never escaped. Mid air were strung bodies."

His voice cracked a little and Rachel's eyes widened in horror.

"Too many to count." Thomas finished, and the boys were also mirroring Rachel's horrified look.

"What do you mean? Dead bodies?" Minho asked concerned while Newt knit his brows. Rachel waited anxiously and almost breathed in relief when Thomas shook his head.

"No," he said, "but they weren't alive either."

Rachel suddenly felt very ill but Thomas continued: "They were strung up, with tubed coming out of them. They're being…"

He swallowed and Rachel's blood ran cold as Thomas finished quietly: "They're being drained."

Rachel noticed Teresa was grasping the back of her neck, as though feeling for something. No-one else seemed to notice, too focused on Thomas who was trying to explain from the fragments that he'd found out. "There's something inside of us that WCKD wants. Something in our blood."

They all bowed their heads a little, absorbing this information, and Thomas said firmly: "So we have to get as far away from them as possible."

Rachel nodded slowly, having fully digested their situation as it stood now. It seemed Thomas had a plan though to get them out of this mess. Rachel glanced around to see that the other Group A boys, however, were looking a little uncertain.

Minho, at least, seemed to agree with Thomas but each of them were looking at Newt, as though waiting for him to say something. This surprised Rachel, and she wondered if he had been the leader in their maze as Harriet had been hers.

"Okay." Newt said at last, accepting Thomas's suggestion. He looked wary but ready as he stood with his hands on his waist, firm in his authoritative position.

"So, what's the plan?" Newt asked, and Rachel turned to look at Thomas, interested, only to be surprised when she saw him looking a little flustered.

Newt was clearly feeling the same way as he asked suspiciously: "You do have a plan, right?"

"Yeah." Thomas muttered, shrugging a little and Rachel almost face-palmed. She could not believe this guy. She didn't believe for one second that he had a plan, and she couldn't believe he hadn't thought that far ahead.

Apparently, Newt was feeling the same way as he said in a mix of exasperation and desperation: "Well, we followed you out here, Thomas."

The blond gestured at the group, his tone slowly becoming more exasperated as he said incredulously: "Now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing?"

Thomas looked dejected, and he bit his lip. Rachel groaned in her head, and from Minho's face, it looked like he was with her on that. Newt was folding his lips tightly in frustration when Aris suddenly piped up: "Wait. Janson said something…"

Rachel looked at Aris curiously as the boy said nervously: "About people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army."

Rachel frowned at that, and so did Minho. Apparently the two of them thought alike more than she had originally realized. Somehow, that felt more insulting than it should, too.

"The Right Arm." Thomas murmured, and then he looked up at them. Rachel could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he said quickly: "The Right Arm. If they're really against WCKD, maybe they can help us."

Rachel pursed her lips, thinking through all the possibilities and risks, and she saw Minho do something similar.

' _He was definitely a Navi_.' She mused. ' _Reminds me of Sonya_.' Rachel thought with a pang, remembering her friend from the maze, the leader of their Navigators. She was brought out of her thoughts by Newt's flat voice.

"People." He said, looking between Thomas and Aris disbelievingly. "In the mountains. Mountain people."

Rachel could see Newt was extremely skeptical and part of her didn't blame him. Newt continued, staring at Thomas: "That's your plan?"

Thomas looked a little crestfallen at Newt's obvious incredulity but he nodded as he said softly: "It's the only chance we have."

Newt looked almost desperate as he stared at Thomas, and Rachel said softly: "It's a better chance than what WCKD gave us in the maze."

Newt glanced at her while Thomas looked at her, startled by her support. Minho was nodding slowly, agreeing with her. Newt glanced at Minho, Rachel, and then Thomas before he sighed, relenting.

"Hey, guys." One of the guys suddenly piped up and they all turned to look at him.

He was kneeling on the sand and he pointed at it as he said: "Check this out. Minho, give me a light."

They all walked over, Newt a little wearily as Minho shone the light at where the guy was gesturing. Rachel touched Newt's elbow, giving him a reassuring squeeze. She met his gaze briefly when he glanced over at her, before looking down at what the guy had found on the ground.

Newt also turned his gaze downwards, feeling a little better. Rachel saw that there were footprints on the sand, preserved but clearly not that recent.

"Someone's been down here." The guy was murmuring and Rachel added quietly: "And it looks fairly old. At least we know WCKD aren't likely to come here."

Minho nodded as he motioned for them to follow.

"Come on." He said as he led the way down into the warehouse, shining his flashlight ahead. Thomas followed close behind, Teresa trailing behind him. Rachel walked between Newt and Aris, the latter a little behind, while the other two boys came up at the rear.

Rachel paused and she walked a little slower, Aris following, to whisper to the boys: "Hey, I don't think we ever introduced ourselves. I'm Rachel."

The dark-skinned boy gave a smile as he replied: "Hey. Nice to meet you, under the circumstances."

He gave her a cheeky wink and Rachel's lips quirked. Newt glanced back at them briefly, but he didn't comment as the dark-skinned boy continued: "I'm Frypan. This here's Winston."

He gestured at the other boy, who nodded and Rachel replied: "Nice to meet you. I'm sure you know by now, but this is also Aris."

Aris waved a little and they all shared nods.

They stopped as Minho stopped. He was peering through a shutter door into what looked like an old storage area. He must've seen something worth investigating because he jerked his head into the room as he said: "Come on. Open up."

He stepped back and Thomas and Newt pulled the shutter up, revealing a room filled with old supplies. Frypan clicked on a portable lamp, and Rachel found a large stack of those large water bottles used for water dispensers, and a stash of water bottles beside them as well. Newt blew the dust off a small collection of torches, and Teresa reached out to grab one.

She and Newt handed out a few to the rest, and they quietly looked around the room. There were several piles of clothes, all still in perfectly good condition. Minho was digging around them and he picked up a jacket, shaking it out to get the dust off as he murmured: "Looks like people lived here."

"Where are they now?" Newt wondered as he looked around.

Thomas had also grabbed a jacket, and he was dusting it out too. He suggested as he pulled the jacket on: "Let's pack some of this stuff up."

Thomas zipped up the jacket, and he added: "Anything you might need."

Rachel turned to face him as Thomas continued: "We'll split up." He gestured at Minho as he added: "See what else we can find. Meet back here."

They all nodded in agreement and Minho moved to follow Thomas and the brunette turned to go when Newt called: "Wait, Thomas."

Thomas looked over at the blond who tossed him a flashlight. He nodded thanks and then murmured to Minho: "Let's go."

The two boys left and Rachel watched them go warily. She wasn't sure why but she didn't like that those two were heading out. It made her anxious because her gut was rarely wrong in these situations.

* * *

The boys had all just grabbed jackets and pulled them on, before each grabbing backpacks and starting to pack. Newt and Frypan stayed to fill theirs here, rummaging through the room's stash of supplies while Aris and Winston only stayed to collect some water before they moved off to see if they could find anything else in the opposite storage room. In the meantime, Rachel followed Teresa further into the storage room, digging through the clothes as they searched for something suitable, Rachel occasionally glancing at Teresa.

She was a very pretty girl, with her black hair and slim figure and bright blue eyes. But there was something about the girl that made Rachel feel uneasy. Just as she thought she had recognized Thomas, she had the uneasy suspicion that she'd seen Teresa before. And unlike with Thomas, it wasn't a good feeling that she had about the girl.

The two girls moved further inside, and headed into what looked like a women's section. The clothes and the supplies became more feminine, and Rachel stopped to examine some of the piles of blankets. She wondered what had happened to the people who had owned these.

Rachel jumped as Teresa suddenly gasped and flinched back, and Rachel whipped around in alarm. She breathed a sigh of relief with the other girl as they saw it was only mannequins.

"Don't scare me like that." Rachel said, placing a hand over her racing heart, and Teresa whispered: "Sorry."

"You two alright?" Newt called from where he and Frypan were near the door, and Teresa called back: "We're fine."

Rachel turned back to the rest of the room, and spied some clothes that looked like they might fit her and Teresa. She dug through it, pulling out various articles and glanced up to see Teresa was digging around in some feminine products.

"Teresa." She called softly and the black-haired girl turned to her. Rachel held up the clothes she'd found, and Teresa nodded in thanks as she came over. They pulled on longer-sleeved shirts and Rachel pulled on jeans over the boy-shorts she'd been wearing.

As they changed, Teresa suddenly asked: "Rachel?"

"Hm?" Rachel asked as she buttoned the jeans, and Teresa asked hesitantly: "Do you… remember anything? From before the Maze I mean?"

Rachel glanced over at the girl in surprise and a hint of confusion as she answered: "No. I don't, none of us could remember anything when we came up into the Maze. Why?"

Rachel examined the dark-haired beauty before her.

"Do you remember something?"

Teresa shook her head, turning away as she murmured while she finished changing: "No, it's nothing."

Rachel looked at her skeptically, but decided not to press it. She didn't know Teresa that well yet, and she had a feeling the girl wasn't going to say any more on the subject so she just returned to changing quietly.

Unbeknownst to them, Frypan had glimpsed them changing, and had turned to look, staring at the two beautiful girls. Newt, however, saw where the other boy was looking and simply placed a finger on the hormonal teen's face, turning it back to face his own as he raised his brows chidingly. Frypan gave Newt an innocent look as he asked lightly: "What?"

He then looked back down to continue packing and Newt smiled, snorting a little at the other boy. He also turned back to his packing, trying very hard not to look over at the girls, in particular Rachel. He'd noticed earlier that she had a very lean body, and her toned legs had held the clear signs of a runner, though he tried not to think about it too much- that would mean admitting he'd basically checked her out. Which he had, but hey, he was a regular teenage guy and she was an attractive teenage girl. What could he say?

Newt jumped as Rachel knelt beside him, now dressed in jeans, leather boots, and a denim shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, just showing the tank top beneath it. She had picked up a backpack in the back, filling it with some extra clothes amongst other things, and now leant over to pack some water along with her other supplies. Newt handed her a couple bottles he and Frypan had already filled and she nodded gratefully.

"Thank you." She whispered and he just replied: "You're welcome."

He ignored Frypan, who was wiggling his brows at Newt suggestively, opting to help Rachel pack the bottles.

"Thanks." She said again and Newt just shrugged. They all stood up, and Frypan was just passing a few bottles to Teresa as the girl walked over to join them as well, when the lights flickered on. They all looked up in surprise as the lights glowed a dull orange-yellow light on them, Rachel frowning. She wandered outside to peer around, and Newt followed.

"I guess they must've found the power." Rachel murmured and Newt nodded.


	4. Cranks

"I'd bet it was Minho, that dumb shank." He mused, and Rachel turned to him curiously.

"'Shank'?" Rachel questioned and Newt shrugged as he answered: "It's just glade slang."

Rachel blinked.

"Is… 'glade' a British word?" She asked unsurely, and Newt grinned at her.

"No, that was what we called the… centre area in the maze." Newt explained. "Where we all first arrived."

"Oh…" Rachel realized. "So 'shank' is like 'stick'."

Now it was Newt's turn to be confused.

"'Stick'?" He asked and Rachel giggled.

"It's our own slang." She explained, but Newt was looking a little unfocused as he stared at her.

"Newt?" She asked in concern and he quickly snapped back.

"Sorry, it's just… you just said my name." He blurted out and she looked confused.

"Yes… shouldn't I?" She asked and Newt looked embarrassed as he said hastily: "No, it's fine. It sounded nice when you said it."

Rachel blushed, also embarrassed while Newt wanted to hit himself on the head. He'd been admiring the sound of Rachel's laughter, and so it had thrown him when he'd realized she'd said his name.

' _What else would she call you, you dumb shank? Bloody brilliant job you're doing.'_ He thought to himself annoyed.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you, Rachel." He muttered and Rachel blinked.

' _Oh… It does sound nice when he says my name. Although I doubt he was thinking it in the same way as me, but now I see what he means.'_ She thought. Out loud though, Rachel just said: "No, it's fine. Sorry if I startled you."

He shook his head but Teresa and Frypan joined them at that moment, so he didn't say anything else. The four waited, soon joined by Aris and Winston as they returned from their scavenger hunt. They'd found a similar stash in the other room but Winston grinned proudly as he and Aris produced a stash of chocolate bars that they had also had the luck to find. They all shared the treats evenly, packing them into their bags and keeping some aside for Thomas and Minho.

 _'Speaking of which, where were they?'_

As the thought ran through Rachel's head, she heard Thomas yell: "Hey!"

They all turned to look down the corridor, and she saw Thomas and Minho's dark figures running around the far corner shouting in terror. She squinted and then her eyes widened as she saw more figures running in jerky movements behind the boys.

But what was really terrifying were the sounds those figures were making. They were screeching almost inhuman noises, sounding like wild animals.

"Oh my God." She whispered as she fully processed what she was seeing and hearing.

The others had apparently reached the same conclusion and Newt muttered as he pulled his backpack on quickly: "Shit!"

"Get out of here!" Minho shouted between his pants as he ran. The pair had almost reached them by the time the group had realized what was happening. Rachel had reacted the quickest, and she bolted, grabbing Newt's hand as she ran for her life.

The rest soon followed, turning and fleeing after Rachel as she sprinted for the escalators. As they ran up, Rachel realized that they weren't in a warehouse at all; they were in what had once been a shopping centre, but was now abandoned, many of the shop windows broken.

"What's going on?" Frypan shrieked as they ran up the escalators, away from those crazy figures and Thomas shouted back: "I don't know! Go!"

They all ran around onto the next floor, calling checks on each other and Thomas, Minho and Newt continually yelling at them to keep moving. As though they needed to be told. But the group all screeched to a halt as one of the figures appeared before them and Rachel freaked out, shrieking now that she could see it clearly.

It looked like a living corpse, its clothes tattered and its skin covered in angry rashes, welts and scratches. Its hair was matted and tattered, and missing in some parts where it looked like it had been ripped out. These must be what Janson had called 'Cranks': they certainly looked the part.

Suddenly Aris darted forwards, armed with a pipe he'd picked up somewhere along the way.

"Aris, no!" Winston cried as Rachel shouted in alarm: "Aris!"

But the boy was already charging at the Crank and Rachel's heart almost stopped.

"No!" They all cried, and Newt moved a step forward in a late attempt to stop the boy while Rachel froze, terrified as she watched Aris go to what she thought was his certain doom. But at the last minute, Aris ducked and whacked the Crank in the legs, causing it to topple, falling with a horrible screech and Rachel breathed in relief before she jumped, getting out of the way as the Crank fell to the ground at their feet.

Unfortunately, it continued to come after them, aiming for Teresa, whose feet had been closer. The Crank's movements cut Teresa and Thomas - who'd been behind Teresa - off from the rest and the two scrambled a little up the next escalator to get away from the snarling creature at their feet.

Rachel whipped around as they heard the Cranks that had been following them, and she saw them arriving on their floor as they ran in their lopsided way up the escalators.

"Go! Go around!" Thomas called, and they all ran for it as Thomas and Teresa continued to scramble up the escalator. They sprinted down the passage, and Rachel pulled ahead, her trained legs giving her an advantage despite her being a girl.

She sprinted up the next set of escalators they came across, Aris a little behind her. Frypan followed, then Newt while Winston called back to Minho, who had stayed at the rear to whack the Cranks that got too close to them. Thomas and Teresa joined them as they sprinted down the corridors on the next floor.

"Where are we going to go?" Winston cried as they ran. Minho and Frypan were in the lead now, Rachel having slowed to help Teresa along. Winston pulled ahead with Aris while Newt fell back, waiting for Thomas, who'd come up last, letting Teresa go first.

"We've got to find a way out of here!" Frypan yelled back at Winston, who nodded and shouted: "Minho! Anything ahead?"

The boy shook his head as he shouted back: "Nothing, but keep your eyes open!"

"Come on, Teresa, run!" Rachel urged and Teresa broke into a faster sprint.

Thomas shouted at them from behind: "Go!"

"Faster. Faster!" Someone up front shouted, when suddenly there was an almighty crash behind them and a cry of surprise.

Rachel glanced back and came to a screeching halt as Thomas shouted: "Newt!"

"Newt!" Rachel screamed as the other boys stopped too. She ran forwards and towards the blond boy, who was wrestling with the Crank that had jumped through a shop window onto him.

Thomas also sprinted forwards, as they saw Newt struggling keep the horrible creature as far away from him as possible as the Crank snarled down at him. Thomas reached Newt first, moving to the side to kick the Crank off his friend, and sending the Crank flying through the corridor banisters. It screeched as it fell through, falling down the several floors and most likely to its death. If it could die at all- Rachel had no idea and at the moment didn't particularly care.

"Newt!" Rachel gasped as she arrived and reached out a hand to the boy. Thomas had done the same and the two pulled the shaken blond up.

"Newt, you good?" Thomas asked frantically and Newt nodded.

"Thanks, Tommy." He replied, just as they heard the shrieks of the other Cranks. Rachel saw the Cranks running towards them at the end of the corridor before Newt pulled her backwards by the hand. She turned and sprinted with him and the others, Thomas behind them as they all ran once again for their lives.

"Through here!" Minho shouted, coming to a stop as he found a side door. He urged them through, Thomas running in first as the rest went a little past as they tried to stop their speed. They all ran through, heading down a small staff corridor. There wasn't space for more than two, and while running it was almost impossible for more than one.

Thomas took the lead this time, Aris behind him. Newt pushed Rachel in front of him, but she kept a tight hold on his hand as she ran a little in front of him, dragging him behind her. Frypan and Minho followed, then Teresa and finally Winston brought up the rear.

Thomas tried a door along the way, but it was locked and he banged on it in frustration. Minho pushed passed the rest of the group, moving to be right behind Thomas to help. As he did, they suddenly heard the shrieks echoing down towards them again.

Rachel couldn't see between Winston and Teresa, and she wasn't tall enough like the rest of the guys. But she could guess what they'd seen and it was confirmed as Teresa shrieked in terror: "Keep going!"

Thomas broke into a run again, and they all followed, the Crank shrieks steadily coming closer. Rachel's heart sank as Thomas shouted from the front: "It's a dead end!"

Aris pulled to a stop beside the two runners, and Newt and Rachel were just coming up as Thomas began to bang on the doors at the end.

"Get us out of here, Thomas!" Teresa shouted from behind as Newt and Rachel arrived. Thomas and Minho were banging and kicking on the locked door, trying to break the locks on the other side.

"This way!" Thomas shouted back at Teresa as he kicked. Rachel glanced between the boys and the corridor they'd just run through, hearing the approaching shrieks.

"I'll hold them back!" Winston shouted at them, and Rachel saw him cock the gun he'd picked up earlier that night at the WCKD facility. He began to fire shots down at the approaching Cranks.

"Hurry!" Rachel cried and Teresa yelled as they all aimed kicks at the door: "Harder!"

They bashed on the door, taking quick turns. Thomas would kick one side at the same time as Minho, and as he pushed off the door, Newt and Aris would kick. Teresa, Rachel and Frypan caught the boys so they wouldn't fall, especially with the heavy backpacks making it difficult for them to balance.

"Get the door open!" Winston shouted as Rachel caught Newt and Frypan caught Aris. Frypan tossed Aris into Minho as Teresa grabbed Thomas, making space as the Frypan backed up before throwing his large frame at the door.

"Come on, Frypan! Let's go" Minho shouted as the boy's weight crashed into the door, and the door lock finally broke, the door flying open.

Minho quickly shouted to make sure everyone heard: "Come on, it's open!"

Minho hurriedly ran through first, checking the other side as Thomas and Newt shoved Teresa and Rachel through as well. Newt followed quickly afterwards so that Aris could come in after him. Thomas ran in after Aris, grabbing Winston's arm as he did so to pull the boy along, when suddenly Winston fell over with a cry of fear and pain.

Rachel looked to see in alarm that several Cranks must've thrown themselves at Winston, and had managed to latch onto the boy's legs. They were now starting to drag him back out into the corridor, and she and the others quickly darted forwards to save him as Winston screamed: "Get them off me! Help!"

The boy grabbed the door as Minho shoved the door shut enough to prevent more Cranks from coming through. Newt arrived first, reaching down to grab Winston's hands, and Rachel, Frypan and Teresa quickly joined him, also gripping Winston's arms while Thomas moved to help Minho with the door and to grab Winston's chest, heaving him by the clothes.

"Pull!" Teresa screamed as they heaved, and Thomas shouted again: "Pull!"

Rachel grit her teeth as Winston screamed in pain as the Cranks tore at his exposed stomach, making deep scratches. "Pull!"

They gave an almighty tug and thankfully managed to pull Winston away. They dragged him a little away, where he groaned in pain, but there was no time to take a break, and Thomas yelled at them: "Go, go, go!"

He and Minho were shoving their bodies against the door, trying to keep the Cranks at bay. Frypan and Newt and pulled Winston to his feet, both throwing an arm around each of their shoulders to support the injured boy, while Teresa ran ahead, leading them. Rachel followed, after sending a quick anxious look at Winston, all of them running as fast as they could as the girls went ahead to scout a path. Newt and Frypan slowed down by Winston, but Minho and Thomas fought at the door to give them as much of a head start as they could.

The girls ran on outside, peering around wildly for a suitable direction to run in, and Rachel spotted one just as Newt's group joined them.

"There!" She pointed to a section of collapsed roof and floors as Minho and then Thomas arrived, both panting. The group quickly scaled down the ledges, using the shadows to hide as they moved down the broken pieces of scaffolding, Newt and Frypan being careful not to move Winston around too much as the boy whimpered in pain.

"In here!" Newt whispered, and he dragged Winston down below a piece of scaffolding that had collapsed at an angle above two other pieces, making a crevice large enough for them to all hide. Frypan helped Winston in, and then gestured to the girls to go in first.

Teresa nodded at Rachel, so the younger brunette slipped inside, crawling next to Newt. Teresa and then Frypan and Aris slipped in while Thomas and Minho kept glancing around anxiously. The two slipped in last, and had just made it in when they heard the Cranks howling and snarling up above them.

Thomas placed a finger to his lips in warning to all of them, and Winston clenched his jaws to stifle his pain-filled groans. Newt reached over and grabbed Rachel's hand tightly, and she clung on for dear life as they heard the Cranks prowling along above.

The sounds faded and Rachel let out a light sigh of relief. The group relaxed in general, Frypan moving to start wrapping a bandage around Winston's stomach, only for another feral howl to rip through the air as a Crank got closer once more. They all stiffened in fear, and Teresa was clutching Frypan and Minho tightly, while Aris hugged himself in the far corner.

Thomas's eyes were wide, and Rachel's heart was pounding so loudly it was the only sound her ears were clearly picking up. She clutched Newt's hand, curling in towards him in fear, subconsciously seeking his warmth for some small comfort. Newt wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, pulling her in as their linked hands rested on his knees while Rachel's body curled in around Newt's side.

They all stayed in the torturous cycle of peace and then fear as the Cranks moved around the whole night, eventually each falling into a restless sleep as exhaustion over came them. But not once in the night did Newt let go of Rachel, and not once did Rachel let go of Newt's hand.


	5. The Scorch

Rachel started awake, blinking groggily against the light streaming in from outside while her body jerked in alarm as Thomas cried: "Hey!"

She was vaguely aware of the person beside her tensing as well, but she didn't look at who it was, too busy searching for any immediate danger. She sighed as she saw the crow fly off, as Thomas scolded: "Get out of here!"

She blinked as she saw Teresa on her one side, before becoming aware of a very comfortable warmth right next to her. She turned her head and found herself staring right into Newt's chocolate brown eyes. She jerked back quickly as he did the same, both startled and a little embarrassed at their proximity.

Newt's arm had been hanging off her shoulder lightly and as they pulled away, it dropped to rest a little beside Rachel's waist. He lifted his hand quickly, rubbing it awkwardly behind his neck, both blushing a little as they avoided eye contact, and they only blushed harder when they realized their hands were still interlocked on Newt's lap.

Newt let go of Rachel's hand as Thomas stood up to look around, clearing his throat self-consciously. Trying to avoid the awkward situation, he turned to ask Thomas: "Are they gone?"

Thomas was looking around warily while the rest began to shift around, waking up, and Rachel was thankful no-one had been witness to her and Newt- she was embarrassed enough as it was.

"Yeah." Thomas responded to Newt's question. "We're safe, for now."

Newt nodded and Rachel began to shuffle out as Thomas murmured: "We should get moving."

Rachel slipped out passed Teresa as Thomas reached for his backpack as the older girl was rubbing her face and brushing her hair out of her face tiredly.

"Let's pack it up." Thomas ordered.

Minho gave Thomas a dirty look- clearly he was not a happy morning person, even though he was on his feet, the quickest with Thomas and Rachel. As he picked up his own stuff, Rachel moved to Aris and Thomas called all of the others to get them to move: "Aris, come on. Fry, Winston. Let's go."

The rest of the group began to pick up their packs, starting to get to their feet slowly as they tried to keep their tired eyes open. Rachel could feel Newt's eyes on her back but she fussed over to Aris, reaching out a hand to pull him up, which he took gratefully.

"You all right?" He asked her, and Rachel nodded, before she asked: "How about you? You good?"

"If it hadn't been for those Cranks, I'd have been better though." Aris tried to joke, and Rachel smiled briefly. But their dire situation made those smiles fall, especially as they heard a pained groan behind them.

Rachel glanced behind Aris to see Winston having a hard time getting up, holding his wounded stomach. Frypan had also noticed, and he whispered: "Hey, man."

Frypan bent down, offering his hand to the other boy.

"You okay?" He asked, and Winston gave a grim smile as he grabbed Frypan's hand, getting to his feet with a painful grunt. As soon as they were all up, Thomas and Minho took the lead, taking them up the rubble, back towards the top of the mall. Newt and Teresa followed, Rachel just behind with Aris beside her. Frypan kept checking that Winston was behind him as the pair brought up the rear.

"Oh, my God…" Rachel whispered as she cleared the top and looked outside. They were looking at the ruins of what would've been a large city in its glory days. She could see a huge open road in the center, so they were probably on some form of a main street.

But what was worse was that the blackened remains of the tall buildings around them looked like they had been burnt. And it wasn't too difficult to deduce what had burnt them. Even from their position, still sheltered in the shade of the overhanging roof of the mall, Rachel could feel the blistering heat of the sun.

She hesitated but Thomas had moved forward, shielding his eyes from the blinding white light as he moved forwards, heading into the city. Minho and Newt exchanged glances, before they followed, Teresa falling back a little as she cringed against the burning rays. She fell in step with Aris and Rachel, while Frypan and Winston followed behind, the latter moving slowly.

"Let's keep to the shade." Thomas muttered as he moved so that they walked in the shade provided by the shadows of the skyscrapers around them. It didn't do much against the heat but at least they didn't feel the blistering rays of the sun.

They trudged along slowly, all of them glancing around at the rubble lying everywhere and the many blackened holes in the buildings. It looked almost like something had burnt and bombed the many skyscrapers around them, causing parts of the buildings to collapse and fall to the ground, many smashing into the cars that lay abandoned on the sides of the street.

Thomas and Aris had fallen back to look around closer, while Frypan had moved ahead to take a better look. Minho, Newt, Rachel and Teresa walked in the middle, forming a line as their path became narrower.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan murmured as he swiveled his head around, looking at the city that spread for miles around, all of it ruined.

"I don't know." Newt murmured. "It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time. "

They passed another destroyed car, and Aris commented: "Hope the whole world is not like this."

There was murmured consensus but Rachel remembered the video clip Ava Paige had shown them when they'd escaped the maze. Paige had said something about the sun exploding and the video had shown fireballs raining down from the sky- those must've been what destroyed the place. And she remembered the horrible Cranks, the manifestation of the virus Paige had spoken about.

"I wouldn't hold too much hope." She whispered. Aris looked down while Newt glanced at her briefly.

"We have to hope there's something out there that can make this better." He reminded her quietly. Rachel nodded, a little reluctantly, and Newt took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

She cracked a smile, ignoring the surprised looks Aris and Minho shared, but it was ruined as Thomas suddenly stopped walking, saying abruptly: "Woah, hang on. Stop. Did you hear that?"

They all paused to listen, and Rachel heard the low thrumming sound… that was steadily getting closer.

"Get down!" Thomas shouted as they all recognized the sound of a helicopter coming their way.

"Everybody hide! Hide!" He ordered as they all scrambled. Aris ducked under a crevice formed by the rubble, Frypan and Winston jumping in with him. Newt pulled Rachel under a car with him, while Minho, Thomas and Teresa all found cover under another car nearby.

They'd barely made it before they heard the helicopter flying directly above them and Rachel peeked out with Newt to see what looked like an enormous carrier flying above them, obviously from WCKD and almost surely looking for them. It was flanked by two smaller helicopters, which was what Thomas had initially heard, and Rachel clutched Newt's hand as fear spread through her body.

Thankfully, the aircrafts flew on, and as the sounds of the helicopter blades became fainter, the teens all crawled back out warily.

"They're never going to stop looking for us, are they?" Minho whispered. Rachel bit her lip, still clutching Newt's hand as she stood a little behind him.

He felt her hand tighten briefly, and he said for both her and Minho's benefit: "Well, we'll just have to get so far away they'll never find us."

He shared a look with Minho, who nodded as he shifted his backpack determinedly. Rachel squeezed Newt's hand in thanks, before letting go as Thomas said: "Come on, let's keep moving."

The group began to climb up the sides of the ruins, all silently opting to get out of the city. It made Rachel feel a little better, because the city had given her the creeps, and after WCKD's surveillance run, it made her feel insecure. The climb was steep and difficult, and they began to trail in a ragged group as they clambered over rubble and wires.

Thomas was leading the group, Minho just behind him, while Newt stayed near Rachel as she followed, with Aris and then Teresa slightly behind them. Frypan walked near Teresa, and Winston brought up the rear, fighting against his pained stomach.

"Everyone good?" Thomas called as they reached a little over halfway up. No one responded, all too tired and saving their energy for the hike. Sweat poured down Rachel's face- between the steep climb and the unbearable heat even in the shadows of the high buildings, it was becoming difficult to even breathe.

They reached the top to find a much sandier area, and followed the path created by the slowly increasing sand towards the outskirts of the city. As soon as they left the last of the high-rise buildings behind, they were met by large sand dunes, similar to those that had surrounded the WCKD compound.

Rachel was parched but remained silent, knowing they needed to conserve their limited water supply as much as possible. Breathing deeply, she drew on her short experience as a Navi as she quietly followed as Thomas led them towards the nearest sandbank. The wind was also starting to blow harder now that they'd left the shelter of the buildings, and the sun beat down at them relentlessly.

"Probably best to cover as much skin as possible." Minho noted as they began making their way out of the city.

"Here." Newt added, pulling out a long scarf from his backpack. He tossed it to Minho, who took it and flung it out so that it covered him and Thomas. Newt pulled off his other scarf from around his neck, while Rachel and Teresa dug in their own packs.

Rachel tossed hers to Frypan, who shared it with Winston, also taking the opportunity to help his friend as he let Winston lean a little against him when he needed to put some weight off his stomach. Teresa shared hers with Aris while Newt moved to cover Rachel.

Moving in pairs was a struggle as they climbed the sand banks, especially for Newt and Aris who held their sheets of cloth above their partners, making up for the difference in height. Rachel clung closer to Newt, staying just under his raised arm to try and lessen the burden, sticking close so that he wouldn't have to spread his arms too far out.

"A little further, guys." Thomas called encouragingly, and Rachel rolled her eyes a little. While it was nice that Thomas was trying to keep them motivated, it was also a little annoying because they knew that it would not be 'just a little further.'

Sure enough, when they reached the crest of the sand dune, Rachel could see the faint outlines of the mountains in the horizon, so far away they looked more like a purplish mist floating above the horizon.

"Those mountains," Thomas murmured a little breathlessly as he pointed at them, "it's got to be it. That's where we're going."

Newt glanced at him and then at the group, noting how sweaty and tired everyone was.

"It's a long way off." Newt murmured warningly, and Rachel nodded, biting her lip. Thomas glanced at the pair, while Winston struggled to pull off his backpack, panting heavily.

"Then we better get moving." Minho replied shortly. Newt nodded resignedly while Rachel sighed but also nodded determinedly. They were all about to step forwards when suddenly Winston collapsed, falling away from Frypan - who gave a yelp of surprise - and face-first onto the sand, sliding down the sandbank below.

"Winston!" They all called in alarm. The group slid down to the fallen boy and crowded around him concerned. Newt and Rachel turned the boy over to find him gasping, his breathing shallow.

"Winston!" Newt and Minho each called sharply, trying to get him to revive. Teresa also knelt down to touch the boy's neck area lightly, while Rachel ran her hands over his face and forehead.

As Winston fought for breath Thomas murmured worriedly: "He's hurt pretty bad."

"He's burning a fever but cold sweating." Rachel whispered anxiously, and Teresa nodded as she added: "He's trembling from infection. He won't be able to move on his own."

She looked up, blue eyes wide and anxious as she asked them: "What do we do?"

Thomas slowly stood up, while Newt leaned in closer, asking urgently: "Winston, can you hear me?"

Winston didn't respond to them, his eyes rolling a little as his breaths became shorter and shorter. Thomas looked between the mountains and Winston thoughtfully while the boys tried to get Winston to come back into some consciousness.

"We'll have to carry him." Thomas finally said and Frypan pointed out: "How? It's hard enough trying to walk up and down these dunes with our backpacks. How'll we do it with him?"

"If we could drag him somehow…" Rachel said thoughtfully, and Newt nodded, an idea coming to mind.

"We could probably scavenge around for something to make a makeshift stretcher," he pointed out, "and pull him on that."

"I brought rope just in case. It'd be easier to tie our backpacks to the stretcher, too." Minho added, and Rachel nodded: "I have some, too."

Thomas nodded in agreement, and Newt ordered: "Alright, Rachel and Teresa, stay here with Winston. The rest of us'll go find sticks, poles, anything that we can rope together to make a pulley."

Teresa folded her arms a little as Rachel pointed out: "You know, that sounded just a little sexist."

Newt smiled a little at that, although it was very grim as he replied: "Well, you seem to know what you're doing better than us. You two diagnosed him faster than we did."

Minho added: "See, so it makes more sense for you to stay."

Rachel deflated slightly, and glancing down at Winston, she murmured: "What good is a diagnosis when we can't do anything to help?"

The boys had no response for that, and after Newt squeezed her shoulder sympathetically, they all left to do their jobs. Teresa and Rachel sat in silence, sitting beside Winston who continued to gasp and choke on his own pained breath. The girls opened a bottle of water and carefully slid a little down Winston's throat as they waited.

They continued to give him small sips for a little longer, and soon his breathing eased, until he was almost asleep. The girls remained watching over him anxiously until the boys returned one by one. Minho and then Newt arrived first, and the two began working on tying their poles together just as Thomas arrived.

Aris and Frypan arrived together, having both found two parts of what was once a much longer pole. Together, they tied four of the poles into a makeshift stretcher, and then tied the last one in the middle to help keep the backpacks in place as they tied those on too.

While Newt and Aris tied the last of the backpacks on, Frypan, Minho and Thomas heaved Winston onto the stretcher. Teresa and Rachel helped as best as they could, and Rachel finished off by tucking the injured boy gently into place on the stretcher.

They all stepped back a little to examine their handy-work quietly, before Thomas said at last: "Let's go."


	6. Brave Comrade

Newt nodded as he murmured: "We can take turns pulling him. Minho and I can go first-"

"I'll volunteer first." Frypan cut in. Newt appraised him, noting the stubborn set of the cook's jaw. He nodded at last, and Minho gestured that he would take the other side of the stretcher.

Newt relinquished it to him, and they took off once more, Thomas leading once again as he wrapped a scarf around his head. Newt and Rachel followed behind, sharing their scarf while Teresa shared with Minho and Aris shared with Frypan.

They had pulled out a spare shirt to cover Winston as best as they could without blocking his breathing. As they travelled, they saw the remains of an enormous bridge, broken in the middle.

Rachel gasped in awe- it was magnificent in a terrible way. Their path took them under the bridge, all of them struggling as they fought against the heat and their thirst. It was worse for the boys as they often had to carry Winston out of the stretcher on the downhill slopes- it was the best solution to avoid tumbling down as they had the first time they'd tried to drag the boy down the dunes.

Teresa and Rachel offered to help, but Winston was usually too heavy for them and so the girls took bag duty, where they at least tried to alleviate the weights on the boys by taking their packs from them as they carried the injured boy. It only became worse as they moved further towards the mountains and away from the city ruins. The wind picked up, blowing sand into their faces and whipping their clothes, biting whatever skin it could touch.

They were forced to switch strategies, and they donned hooded jackets to cover their faces, when the wind rendered sharing the scarfs useless. Newt wrapped the scarf over Rachel's heads for cover and Teresa copied the action, while the boys pulled up their hoods and shirts to cover their mouths and noses to prevent breathing in the sand. It was proving difficult though, and they all began to cough as they walked while the wind began to make dragging Winston almost impossible.

The boys eventually picked the stretcher up, each taking a corner and alternating positions so that at least one of them was taking a break at any given time.

"This isn't going to work!" Newt shouted at last over the howling wind as he struggled next to Minho.

Rachel was walking beside Aris as he carried Winston, in front of Minho, and she shouted back: "We know! We can't even see where we're going any more."

Frypan yelled from his place at the rear: "Then why didn't you say something earlier?"

"Slim it!" Minho shouted before Rachel could retort and Thomas yelled: "We've got to find shelter!"

Teresa shouted back: "But where?"

Aris suddenly nudged Rachel, nodding to the side. She glanced over to see the outlines of some form of ruin that made a dome where they could rest. Since Aris couldn't point it out she pointed at it as she shouted: "There!"

The boys and Teresa glanced over and Newt shouted: "Let's go!"

They trudged their way over, Teresa and Rachel going ahead to scout out. Deeming it good enough, they quickly dropped their packs before going back to help the boys in. They lowered Winston carefully, all of them helping to steady the stretcher, before each of them collapsed onto the ground exhausted.

Rachel sat beside Newt as the blond sat down with a grunt and she dug in her pack for a water bottle. Opening it, she offered it to the British boy who took it gladly. He took one swing before giving it back to her so she could have some as well. The others had also dug out some water, and Newt warned: "Careful you lot, we need to save it."

Minho made a face while Frypan sighed, but they all knew it just made Newt feel better to say it out loud. They sat, trying to sip sparingly on the water and catching their breaths, rubbing sore limbs and stretching their arms and legs. Aris leant his head back tiredly, and Rachel leant against him as she closed her eyes.

Frypan took off his shoes and Rachel opened her eyes at Minho's snort. She looked over to see Frypan had turned his shoe over to get rid of the sand inside, only for sand to come pouring out. It was amazing he'd even managed to walk with all of it in his boot. She sighed as she glanced over at Winston, who was starting to look worse and worse, his breathing constantly shallow while his face became paler and paler by the moment, despite the sun pounding mercilessly down on them.

She looked away sadly, glancing over at Newt to find his eyes were trained on her. They quickly averted their eyes, but Rachel felt just a little bit better inside as she felt the blond's arm brushing against hers every time he shifted as they all huddled in a loose circle, waiting for the wind to die down so that they could move on.

* * *

The wind had dissipated, calming down for a moment, but none of them were willing to move. Thomas had gone out to scout out their path, and the rest were sitting around, worriedly watching Winston. Rachel's head leaned against Newt's shoulder, her legs tucked up under her chin as she took some comfort in his presence.

She wasn't sure why she was so drawn to this boy, but she did know that his warm touch, even despite the heat, and his low voice soothed her as a balm would soothe a burn. She'd seen Aris send her more than one surprised glance, but she was too tired to respond to his questions, especially when she herself didn't really know the answer.

Eventually, Teresa got up and went out to Thomas and Newt got to his feet as well, forcing Rachel to lift her head. She sat up as he moved to lean against a pillar, watching the pair outside staring out at the mountains. After a moment, he called out: "How's it looking?"

Rachel looked over with interest, and saw Minho and Frypan doing the same. She was down heartened when Thomas paused before replying hesitantly: "It's a little further."

Rachel sighed as Newt turned back around to them.

"That's not very convincing." He muttered and Minho snorted as he said: "Ya think, shuck face?"

"Slim it, shank." Newt shot back and Minho grinned. Newt sat back down beside Rachel, leaning back with a sigh.

"So, Rachel, Aris." Minho suddenly piped up, and all of them looked at him expectantly.

"Have you two got a thing going on like Thomas and Teresa seem to?" He teased.

Aris turned red with embarrassment while Rachel wrinkled her nose. Newt's head had shot up and he warned: "Slim it, Min."

Minho just grinned, sharing a look with Frypan as he continued: "Well?"

Rachel shook her head in disbelief.

"Seriously? The world's gone completely crazy, we're on the run from crazier madmen, and you want to know about my love life?" Rachel asked incredulously and Minho shrugged.

"Well, it's now or never." He pointed out, joking half-heartedly.

There was a pause as the weight of the statement hit them, before Rachel tried to lighten the mood as she replied: "Well, it isn't your business but no. Aris is more like a brother I never knew... which could actually be literal, now that I think about it."

Newt and Frypan snorted at that, while Minho's brows rose and he asked the younger boy: "That right?"

Aris nodded, looking uncomfortable, but he replied honestly: "Yeah. I've never really thought about Rach that way."

"Because you were too busy gawking at Sonya." Rachel added teasingly. Aris's face reddened but he didn't reply.

Minho meanwhile grinned as he spotted an opportunity to turn the tables on Rachel, and he said slyly: "So then, Rachel," she looked at him with raised brows which he answered by wiggling his own, "anyone that's caught your eye?"

She froze internally but she just replied lightly: "Well, given that humanity's dying, I haven't really got much to choose from, have I?"

Newt pulled a slight face at that, but Minho butted in as he continued teasingly: "So, you _haven't_ been gawking at our Newtie boy here?"

Rachel's eyes widened at that while her face turned beet red. She wasn't the only one, as Newt's face also flushed and he said sharply: "I told you to slim it, shank!"

Minho shrugged as he leaned back, raising his hands defensively. But he leaned against Aris conspiringly, and Rachel pursed her lips as she saw Aris's lips twitching as he attempted to suppress a smile. Frypan was also grinning as he moved to check on Winston, and they all just relaxed a little, enjoying the small moment of peace that they had found.

It was all ruined by a yell and then the crack of a gunshot.

"Winston, what are you doing man?" Frypan yelled as Rachel flew to her feet, Newt jumping up with her as Minho charged at Winston. Frypan had shoved the gun away from Winston's head so the bullet missed, holding the boy's arm down as Minho leapt and slammed into the struggling and snarling boy.

"Oh, my God." Rachel whispered as she and Newt ran over.

Aris shouted for Thomas to come down, while Minho yelled, wrestling the gun out of Winston's hands: "Give me that!"

He pulled the gun away as Winston shoved the Asian boy off, the injured boy crawling away and holding out a hand, gesturing for them to stay away. Rachel clutched Newt's arm as they all circled warily around the gasping boy, waiting anxiously as he trembled. Minho passed the gun to Frypan as he moved closer to Winston when Thomas arrived.

"What's going on?" Thomas demanded at the same time Teresa asked Rachel: "What happened?"

Frypan explained in a trembling voice: "I don't know He just woke up and grabbed the gun and he tried…"

He broke off, unable to finish.

Thomas leant down, saying gently: "Winston."

The boy groaned as he collapsed onto his knees and Thomas held him steady as he asked: "Winston, you okay?"

But Thomas let go quickly, backing up as Winston began to choke and coughing up blood. Rachel tightened her grip on Newt as the blond exchanged worried looks with Minho. Winston wheezed as the fit passed, falling onto his back. The group approached him slowly, Newt wrapping an arm around Rachel to keep her a little behind him for protection.

Winston finally explained between his ragged breathing: "It's growing…"

He lifted his shirt and Rachel gasped, clutching Newt's arm as tears filled her eyes.

"Inside me." Winston whimpered and they all gaped, not knowing what to say as they stared at the mess that had once been the boy's torso.

The skin on his stomach, where the Cranks had ripped into his flesh, was caked with blood and raised veins. The flesh was dark red, and it looked like it was rotting from the outside in, while the wounds themselves were bloodied and almost purplish indicating a severe infection.

Frypan turned his head away, unable to look any further as Minho let out a horrified guttural sound. Teresa had backed away in horror while Aris turned away, his head bowed. Rachel leant her head against Newt's arm as tears threatened to fall, but it seemed the three Group A leaders, Newt, Minho and Thomas, were unable to move.

They'd frozen, their brains trying to work through the situation and find some desperate form of solution but there was none. It was like when a kid got stuck in the Maze for the night- there was nothing more they could do. Winston could see the gears turning in the boys' minds and he whispered the horrible truth: "I'm not going to make it."

Newt turned his head away at that, his face contorting, feeling useless. Minho bowed his head while Frypan began to silently cry as he looked down at his friend. Thomas was still frozen, unable to face the reality before them.

Winston lifted his hand as he begged: "Please."

Rachel moved closer to Newt as the tears blurred her vision.

"Please," Winston begged as he reached for the gun held loosely in Frypan's hand, "Don't let me turn into one of those… things."

His voice broke, and none of them could move, stunned by the boy's brave plea. Frpyan was unable to move as he clutched the gun, not wanting to lose his friend. Newt finally bowed his head and gently took Rachel's hand, removing it from his arm. A tear fell down her cheek as she watched him move to Frypan, gently taking the gun from him.

Frpyan relinquished the gun as he began to sob, and Thomas said brokenly: "Wait, Newt."

But Newt just moved over to kneel down beside Winston's side, taking the other boy's hand and pressing the gun into it over Winston's heart. He said nothing as he looked the other boy seriously in the eyes, and another tear slipped down Rachel's cheek as she read the raw pain in Newt's face.

"Thank you." Winston whispered to Newt, who nodded silently.

"Now," the brave boy gasped out, "get out of here."

The tears began to fall down Rachel's face freely as Newt swallowed hard before whispering to his friend, his voice breaking: "Goodbye, Winston."

He walked back to the group, sharing a look with the other boys before stepping back beside Rachel. Without looking at her, he picked up his pack, then hers and swung the straps onto his shoulders. He took her hand without a word and she let him lead her away. Aris followed behind them, the two Group B teens knowing that while the sorrow affected them, it wasn't the same pain the Group A kids shared.

Newt didn't look at Rachel as he silently led her down the path to the mountains, away from Winston's soft groans as each of the Group A kids said goodbye. Rachel glanced back every so often, afraid of what was to come. She saw Minho join their line behind Aris, then Teresa, and then poor Frypan.

Thomas joined them last, and Rachel turned back to the front, unable to bear what they knew would come. None of them looked back, and Newt's face was set into an anguished frown. All of the group A kids were trying to hide their pain, but when the shot rang out, they all stopped.

Rachel's heart froze for a beat, before she bowed her head as the tears fell thickly. Newt's hand clenched around hers, but neither moved even when the others slowly began to walk forward again.

Newt looked down at Rachel as she stood with her head lowered. Sensing his gaze, she looked up at him and Newt's face crumpled in pain as he saw the same sorrow reflected in her stormy grey eyes. He took her into his arms, burying his face into her hair and she cried silently into his chest as Thomas passed them silently.

Newt didn't cry but he heaved one dry sob as he buried himself in her soothing embrace, and Rachel clutched at him tightly as they shared the pain of loss and gave each other comfort as each mourned in their own ways for the brave comrade they'd lost today.


	7. Travel

They'd set up a fire in a sheltered spot, another ruined remains of some building, to camp out for the night. They each lay against their packs around the fire, basking in its light. Frypan had finally managed to stop sobbing although the occasional tear still leaked out as they all stared into the fire.

Rachel was between Aris and Newt, with Frypan beside Aris. Next to Newt were Teresa, Minho and finally Thomas across the fire from Rachel. Minho was playing with a knife absentmindedly and Rachel was leaning against Newt's side, her knees brought up to her chin while Newt had an arm wrapped comfortingly around her.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho finally broke the silence with his low bitter voice, and Rachel closed her eyes.

Newt squeezed her shoulders gently as he stared into the fire, while Teresa murmured: "Not all of us. I guess."

Newt heaved a deep sigh as Rachel shook a little. He kept a tight hold on her but he said in a low voice: "If Winston can get infected, we should assume so can the rest of us."

Rachel shuddered a little as she felt tears prick her eyes once more, and Newt pulled her in closer pressing his cheek against the top of her head as she curled into him.

"I never thought I would say it." Frypan whispered as another tear slid down his cheek. "I miss the Glade."

No one had a reply for that, and so they all just sat silently staring into the fire. Thomas finally got up and walked away, settling down away from the group, with his back to them.

Rachel looked back at the dancing flames and thought back to all the happy times she remembered from the Maze- running with the blonde-haired Sonya around the farm and laughing with Harriet as Rachel braided the girl's hair. The three girls had been close, becoming fast friends from the moment Rachel had first arrived in the group B maze.

But she also remembered all the dark times- the terror of being stuck in the maze, the Grievers, watching friends die right before her eyes. Seeing Aris almost shot, except the shot had been intercepted by another girl who had barely known them. The girl had died asking Rachel and Aris to make sure her friends got to safety, and Rachel hadn't even known the girl's name at the time; it was only later that Harriet had told her. Amelia. A pretty name for the pretty girl who had died for her friends to live. Like Winston.

She was shaken out of her thoughts as Newt shifted. He gently let go and she moved away, sensing he wanted to get up.

"Be right back." He murmured as he stood up and walked off to where Thomas sat. Rachel watched him go, seeing the blond settle down beside his friend, probably to comfort him.

Minho watched Newt as well, before settling down more comfortably. Teresa and Frypan had already turned away, lying down fully for the night. Rachel meanwhile continued to watch the pair, knowing Newt was worried about his friend and wondering if there was anything she could do to help.

"Rach…" Aris whispered and she glanced over at him. He held that same questioning look on his face again, and she looked down.

"Talk to me." Her friend whispered and she sighed.

Lifting her head, she looked up at the sky before looking back at where Newt sat talking earnestly with Thomas. She turned back to Aris.

"Yeah." She whispered and he nodded slowly.

"What'll you do?" He asked quietly, and she sighed as she watched Newt getting up.

I don't know." She admitted.

The pair watched as Newt headed back for the campfire and Aris told her quietly: "Remember. If you ever need me, just give me a shout."

She cracked a smile at that and she nodded.

"Always." Rachel promised as Newt made his way back. Aris turned away from them, settling down to sleep at last. Newt placed himself on the ground beside Rachel and wordlessly drew her in to him. She smiled just a little at that, lifting her eyes to meet his.

His face was impassive at first, but as her grey eyes met his brown ones, his face softened.

"Get some sleep. You'll need it." He encouraged and Rachel nodded.

"So do you." She pointed out and he chuckled a little. It drifted off as the weight of their situation settled back down on them, but Rachel savored the sound while it lasted.

Newt settled in comfortably and Rachel set her head in the crook of his shoulder. He lay his cheek against her head and Rachel let her eyes close, her mind drifting as sleep claimed her. But right before she fell into complete unconsciousness, she swore she felt Newt turn his head ever so slightly to kiss the top of her head.

* * *

For several days, they trekked across the barren wasteland, often fighting against the wind that blew the sand up around them. Sometimes they were forced to find cover; other times they just made do with the situation and made what progress they could. They traveled throughout the day and usually only rested once around noon for food and a little water, and then when they stopped for the night.

After that first day, Newt ordered all packs to be opened so he could examine the food supply and he then spread it evenly amongst them. They also split the water so that everyone would have equal shares in case they ever became separated. No one commented on the extra portions they now carried from Winston's pack, although Frypan hid his face and refused to meet anyone's eyes for a while afterwards.

Since the first night on the Scorch, Rachel and Newt always slept in each other's arms. She felt safer when she could feel his warmth beside her, and he felt calmer when he could feel her smaller frame in his arms. Minho sometimes sent Newt a smirk when he saw them in the morning while Teresa looked a little wistful. Aris just watched over Rachel a little worriedly, while Thomas and Frypan just accepted it silently.

Usually, everyone was too tired by the time they stopped for camp and would often fall asleep as soon as they were done eating their dinner portions. Newt was usually the last one to fall asleep, waiting for Thomas to sleep as well, although it was often in vain. And because of this, Rachel would stay up a little longer too, and they'd talk quietly.

Newt told her about his life in the Glade- the different rules and positions people had held, how he'd worked mostly in the gardens and his work as second-in-command beside his friend Alby. Rachel had seen his eyes drop as he mentioned his friend, and she didn't have to ask his fate. She'd moved the conversation away from the topic, knowing it was best not to press him for details. He'd tell her when he was ready.

She also heard about what had happened when Thomas, and later Teresa, had arrived. How things had changed, how they made it out of the maze. Rachel frowned in surprise, picking up on the similarities between her and Thomas' experiences.

When Newt stopped talking, Rachel would tell him about herself. Her tales were usually shorter, since she'd only been in the maze for about a week and a half, and neither had recollections about a life before that. WCKD's swipe had ensured that. But she'd made friends during her stay in the maze, and she had some happy memories to share.

They sometimes discussed the similarities in the mazes- the giant four walls, the running, the camp and gardens, and the box. They avoided talking about the Grievers, neither wanting to think about the horrible creatures, much less talk about them.

They also discussed their escape, and frowned at how closely it was orchestrated. WCKD must've been testing their two groups for the same thing because there was the same pattern to their stories. Though what that was remained a mystery.

And sometimes, they would just talk about trivial things that made them happy. Like the stars Rachel loved to gaze up at, or the tomatoes Newt had harvested successfully the last time they'd gotten seeds. The trees that they both loved to walk around in, even if they were somewhat gloomy and dreary.

Usually their conversations would end there as their minds returned to the seriousness of their current situation, but it helped ease their minds even if it was just for those precious few minutes. And once the morning came, it would be time to pack up and move on silently once more.

It was on the sixth day that things became dire. They were down to the last bit of water and their food supply ended with last night's dinner. They'd all tried to save it but it wouldn't last past the day at most.

As they trekked through the Scorch under the afternoon sun, Rachel watched Minho finish the last of his water. Frypan, Teresa and Aris had finished theirs earlier that day. Thomas, Rachel and Newt had a sip left each and Rachel was extremely worried. Without water, they wouldn't last long in the heat and the mountains were starting to look even further away as the days went by.

Eventually, Newt called an early stop. Thomas had turned to protest but Newt had shaken his head, indicating the wearied group. Minho and Rachel, both stronger as runners, were still at least steady on their feet but Aris, Teresa and Frypan were beginning to sway, completely drained and dehydrated.

Thomas took one look at Teresa's pale face, despite the burning heat, and conceded. They sat down for camp wearily, and soon, most of the group was asleep. Thomas, Newt and Rachel were the only ones left awake, but Thomas lay on the other side of their circle, and he'd turned away from them, giving them some privacy.

Rachel laid her head in her favorite spot on the crook of Newt's shoulder. She curled in on him as usual, and he laid his other arm over her shoulder, keeping her against him as he stroked her hair softly. They were so tired they didn't start their usual whispered conversations right away; instead, they just stayed still for a moment, taking silent comfort in the other's presence.

Newt sighed as he murmured eventually: "You should sleep."

Rachel shrugged as she replied softly: "So should you."

He nodded against her head, but neither did, unwilling to sleep just yet. Rachel shifted a little and she murmured: "What do you think'll happen to us?"

Newt's hand stilled on her head. He briefly considered his answer before he replied honestly: "I don't know. Things are looking a little bleak."

Rachel chuckled half-heartedly as she agreed: "Just a little."

They lay in silence for a moment before Newt shifted.

"Rachel." He began and she lifted her head a little to look at him.

"Yes?" She asked, and Newt swallowed before he said quietly: "I know we technically haven't known each other that long, but I wanted you to know I'm glad you're here with me."

Rachel's face softened and she nodded. For some reason, she felt both happy and sad as she answered: "Me too. I'm glad I got to meet you, even if we're stuck out here now."

His lips curved a little as he smiled softly before he leaned down and pressed his cheek against her head. Rachel laid her head back onto his shoulder as she mused: "You know, it's strange. I've only really known you six days really, nearly a week, but it feels like I've known you forever. Though I guess since I only remember the last around three weeks of my life, I have known you for a long time."

Newt snorted slightly, making Rachel smile a little wider, and she murmured: "Still, I like that you're here. It's so warm and comfortable with you."

Newt smiled as he looked down at her to see her looking out thoughtfully into space.

"I know what you mean." He murmured and she focused back onto his face as he continued softly: "I dunno… I guess it feels right having you next to me."

She smiled and nodded in agreement. They stayed like that for a few more minutes, and Rachel could hear Thomas shuffling restlessly, indicating he'd fallen asleep too at last. Newt kissed the top of her head and whispered: "Now, sleep, love. You're going to need it."

Her heart leapt and began to race at his words, but she managed to reply softly: "Okay."

She shifted and snuggled more comfortably, finally letting her exhaustion take over her body. She could feel him doing the same as his body loosened below her, his hand resting on her shoulder as it did just before he fell asleep.

Just before she and Newt fell asleep, she whispered: "Good night, Newt."

"Sweet dreams, Rachel." He replied softly, and Rachel drifted off into unconsciousness, smiling a little despite their grim circumstance, as she lay beside the British youth she'd come to see as more than a friend.

* * *

 _"Thomas!"_

 _"Rachel, you have to help me."_

 _"Thomas?"_

 _"Please, you have to."_

 _"Thomas, what's going on?"_

* * *

Rachel started, woken from her dream when Newt jerked upright. She looked around groggily as the boy groaned.

"Yo, get up." She heard a voice croak. As her eyes came into focus she saw it was Thomas who'd shaken Newt awake and was trying to rouse everyone up. Minho had jerked up at Thomas's voice as well, and Newt rose to his feet quickly, pulling Rachel up with him.

"Aris, I see something." Thomas croaked out through his hoarse voice as he pulled the younger boy up.

The others had all also crawled to their feet by now as Newt asked groggily: "What? What is it?"

"See that?" Thomas asked as he indicated something a little further away. Rachel peered towards the mountains and saw something blink at her.

Her eyes widened as Thomas gasped out: "It's lights."

There, closer to them than the mountains, was a building of some kind that they hadn't noticed in the day. Now, though, they could see lights winking at them like beacons in the dark.

"We made it." Minho whispered and Rachel's face broke into a small smile… that disappeared as they heard a loud crack of thunder.

Rachel jumped and they all whipped around to see ominous storm clouds coming their way at an incredible rate, and she flinched as there was another crack and they saw a bolt of lightning flash down towards the Earth.

"Let's go." Thomas murmured, nudging Newt.

"Yeah." He agreed as Rachel scooped up her backpack.

Newt grabbed his, Minho doing the same, Thomas saying urgently: "Come on, let's go!"

The others also moved, grabbing their things as Thomas quickly scooped up his own pack. Rachel had pulled on her backpack as another bolt of lightning flashed, getting closer to them as the storm moved across the Scorch.

"Come on!" She cried, grabbing Newt's hand and tugging him with her as she ran. The others were right behind them as they sprinted across the Scorch towards the buildings.


	8. Lightning Storm

As the storm started coming closer and they heard more cracks and saw more lightning flash from behind them at faster intervals, they began to all shout in panic, terrified of getting hit.

"Hurry!" Teresa screamed as the next lightning bolt hit just a little behind them.

"Go!" Minho yelled as he and Thomas led the way, Rachel and Newt right behind with Rachel tugging Newt to go faster. The others were also running for all they were worth, trying to keep up with the former runners as best as they could.

"Run!" Rachel yelled as another lightning bolt hit, and this time it was right behind Teresa who was at the back.

"Keep moving! Come on!" Thomas yelled, and Minho encouraged as well from the front: "Let's go!"

There was another crack and the lightning hit just to the side of Teresa, and Thomas yelled: "Come on, Teresa!"

He slowed his pace to be beside the girl, reaching out for her to push her faster as he urged: "Go, go, go!"

"We're getting closer!" Minho shouted from the front as the buildings came into clearer view.

The lightning flashes were closer and faster now, several hitting the area around them as they ran. One came a little too close for comfort, and Teresa shrieked but Thomas yelled: "Keep going!"

Rachel was now in the lead with Newt and Minho, and she yelled as they ran through the lot outside the buildings: "Come on!"

Minho slowed down to make sure they had everyone as Rachel and Newt raced ahead to get to the doors of what looked like a warehouse. They started pulling on it to open it when there was an almighty crack and they turned sharply back. Rachel's heart stopped for a minute as she saw Thomas and Minho on the ground.

Thomas stirred pretty quickly, starting to get up shakily as he clutched his head but Minho wasn't moving. Newt sprinted away to his friends while Rachel turned back and wrenched the door open.

"Minho!" She heard Thomas shout as she did and she turned to see Thomas crawling beside his friend in agony.

Newt had arrived to pull Thomas away, and Rachel raced out to grab Teresa and Frypan. Aris had run back to help Newt pull Minho up, so Rachel dragged the other two with her into safety as Newt yelled: "Keep going!"

Teresa yelled back at her friends as Rachel dragged her in: "Come on!"

Frypan stayed at the doors while Rachel and Teresa moved inside to let the other boys in as they struggled towards them.

"Move!" Frypan yelled as he waited to slam the door.

"Come on! Hurry up!" He shouted as the lightning storm came quicker and even closer.

"Newt!" Rachel shouted, and finally Newt and Aris rushed through, carrying Minho on their shoulders.

"Get in!" Teresa shouted and Thomas leapt in after them, stumbling to a stop right before Teresa. Frypan quickly slipped in, slamming the door shut behind him and sending them all into darkness.

"Quick!" Newt muttered and Thomas called: "Who's got a light?"

Rachel pulled one out of Newt's backpack for him, handing it to him. The anxious boy flicked it on, leaning it over Minho's still face.

"Minho!" Thomas shouted as he grabbed his friend's shirt desperately.

"Come on, come on." Newt muttered as they all leaned over the prone boy while Thomas shouted: "Minho!"

Rachel clutched Newt's arm as the British boy yelled: "Minho!"

Both boys' voices were raw from running and pain as they begged: "Minho!" "Come on, Minho."

"Come on." Frypan pleaded while Teresa gasped, trying to suppress tears. Rachel and Aris clutched each other, Rachel's hand still on Newt's arm as they silently pleaded for the boy to wake up.

"Come on, man!" Newt begged despairingly and Rachel's hand tightened on his arm as Newt's voice broke. But thankfully, Minho groaned at last.

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief as the Asian boy began to move, groaning a little before his eyes fluttered open. Newt bowed his head in relief, sagging a little against Rachel, who let go of Aris to grab the blond comfortingly. Thomas leaned down and asked: "You okay?"

"What happened?" Minho asked groggily and they all shared smiles of relief before Thomas explained: "You were struck by lightning."

Minho paused before he muttered: "Oh."

They all laughed a little at his reaction, although it was a little watery from Teresa and Frypan.

"Come on, let's move him." Newt muttered and he and Thomas helped Minho up carefully. "Nice and slow."

Rachel leaned down to help as Aris and Frypan also moved over to help heave the still dazed boy up.

"Can you get up?" Thomas asked concernedly but it seemed there was nothing wrong as Minho steadied himself on his feet after they'd all pulled him up. Rachel smiled at Newt, who grinned back at her in sheer relief.

"Thanks guys." Minho murmured to them as they all let him go, and Newt grinned at him.

"You shank." He said fondly and Minho smirked as he shot back: "Shuck face."

Rachel rolled her eyes and muttered: "Boys."

"You love us, really." Minho replied and Rachel shook her head laughingly.

Newt smiled as he wrapped an arm around her, and Minho raised his brows before wriggling them. Both Newt and Rachel made a face at him while Aris and Thomas laughed, Frypan smiling behind them. Rachel glanced at Thomas curiously, remembering her dream… could it have been a memory? Of Thomas?

"Hey." Teresa suddenly said from where she'd wandered a little further off. They all glanced over as she asked: "What's that smell?"

Newt lifted his flashlight as Thomas and Aris dug out their own, and Rachel screamed as Newt's light fell on a Crank charging at Teresa. The black-haired girl screamed too, falling back to the group in fear as the boys yelled with fright, all of them shining their lights on the shrieking Crank as the group began backing away hastily. But the Crank suddenly fell back, as though it had been pulled, falling away from them and leaving them blinking in confusion.

Rachel swallowed, breathing hard as adrenaline coursed through her veins. She looked at the vile creature more carefully to see that it had been chained to some bars on the other side of the room, limiting how far it could reach. Suddenly there was another growl and snarl from the right and Thomas turned to shine his light before yelping as they saw another Crank appear.

"Thomas!" Teresa yelled as Newt pulled Rachel behind his back, clutching her there with one arm protectively as they saw another Crank from their left. The boys shone their lights wildly around to see that the whole room was filled with Cranks.

Though all of the Cranks were chained, it was still terrifying as they all snarled and wailed at the teens, cutting them off from any escape except back into the storm. Frypan had grabbed Teresa out of harm's way as they all huddled close, staying out of the Cranks' reach. Rachel clutched Newt as Thomas yelped: "Oh, shit!"

Newt's hand tightened on Rachel as they all shone the lights wildly around, trying to keep an eye on all the Cranks in case any of them managed to get free and charged at them. Teresa was whimpering, still partly in shock as she trembled behind Frypan, while Rachel was clinging onto Newt as the boys all kept turning around to shine as many lights as they could on the Cranks.

"I see you've met our guard dogs." A woman's voice suddenly called out, and they all whipped around to the sound. A light switched on and they saw a small silhouette by the doors. The woman walked casually towards them, walking in a perfect line through the gap created just between the reaching arms of the Cranks.

"Stay back. Stay back!" Minho warned, and Thomas lifted his arms defensively at the approaching woman. Newt tensed as he pulled Rachel protectively against him as the young woman stopped before them.

She was short, maybe a little over five feet, with cropped black hair, almost like a man's. She didn't seem dangerous, but none of them lowered their guard as they watched her approach, seeing her rake her eyes over them thoughtfully before she smiled.

"You guys look like shit." She commented flatly.

Rachel blinked and Newt's frown deepened while the rest of them were flabbergasted. The woman's first greeting to them, and she chose to say that? She gestured as she turned back to where she'd come from.

"Come on, follow me." She ordered, and none of them moved.

The woman turned back to them when they didn't follow and she asked with raised eyebrows: "Unless you want to stay here with them."

She gestured at the Cranks.

They all glanced at the Cranks and then at each other. Thomas dropped his arms and took the lead, following the woman carefully as she walked back through the Cranks. Minho and Newt shared a look and Minho gestured for Frypan to follow Thomas.

He then pushed Teresa forward before following himself. Newt pulled Rachel in front of him and urged her forward. He motioned for Aris to follow quickly, taking up the rear himself. They followed the woman quietly as she led them into another old warehouse and Frypan gasped: "What?"

Rachel also stared as they continued to walk, seeing the place completely filled with people. There were many make-shift tents and Rachel could see boxes full of supplies, including weaponry. Rachel tensed a little but kept going as Brenda called back to the gawking teens: "Come on, keep up."

They followed her silently, starting to group together as their eyes flickered around nervously while the woman led them through the warehouse, saying casually: "Jorge here wants to meet you."

"Who's Jorge?" Thomas asked bluntly, and the woman looked back to give him an enigmatic smile.

"You'll see." She answered mysteriously and Rachel wrinkled her nose.

"That clears up so much." She muttered and Minho snorted from in front.

The woman didn't hear as she led them upstairs, she continued to tell them: "No-one's come out of the Scorch in a long time. You just got him curious."

Rachel saw the woman give Thomas a once over before she added: "And me too."

Rachel frowned a little; while there wasn't really anything in the woman's tone or manner, the words had sounded somewhat… flirtatious. She saw Teresa give the woman and then Thomas a quick look, looking a little put out.

"Anyone else starting to get a bad feeling about this place?" Newt muttered and Rachel glanced up at him, seeing the tense look on his face. She glanced over her shoulder to see that they were being followed by a large group of the men from downstairs.

She looked back at Newt and answered: "I second that."

"Let's just hear him out." Thomas replied quietly. "See what he has to say."

They didn't respond, but Newt walked closer to Rachel, almost protectively. Minho had come closer as well, while Frypan and Aris huddled in nervously. Thomas stayed in the front behind the woman, Teresa walking between him and the group. They followed as the woman led them up another flight of stairs, walking up into a lofted room.

"Jorge," she called, "they're here."

"Sh." A man's voice shushed as they all made it up into the room. Rachel looked over to see an older man sitting at a desk by the windows, playing around with a radio as he tried to get a clear signal through his headphones.

They were in an office room of sorts, filled with gadgets and machinery. The woman flopped down onto a sofa to the side as the man finished what he'd been doing and let out a deep breath. The teens glanced around nervously as the men from earlier grouped behind them, forming a half-circle and effectively cutting off any escape routes.

Newt and Minho shared apprehensive looks while Aris and Rachel glanced at each other, both having a very bad feeling. Rachel tensed as the man, Jorge, stood up and turned to face them.

"Do you ever get the feeling the whole world is against you?" He asked.

Rachel blinked, and she saw Thomas and Minho share looks while Newt glanced around in disbelief. ' _What is it with these people and weird first words?'_ Rachel wondered. None of them lost their tense stances.

The man began to walk towards them as he said firmly: "Three questions. Where did you come from?"

He grabbed a jug and a glass from a table as he continued: "Where're you going?"

He looked at them once more as he said seriously: "How can I profit?"

They all glanced at each other, both surprised and wary. No one replied, and the man looked at each of them in turn with raised eyebrows. He said sarcastically: "Don't all answer at once."

Thomas finally answered quietly: "We're heading for the mountains. We're looking for the Right Arm."

There was a smattering of condescending laughter behind them, and Jorge smirked as he said: "You're looking for ghosts, you mean."

The man took a drink of his water, staring them down and the group shifted uneasily. Between this man's powerful aura and the group of thugs behind them, they were extremely edgy and somewhat jumpy. Jorge finished his glass and lifted a finger, pointing it straight at them and they all tensed.

"Question number two." He stated as he walked closer to them.

"Where did you come from?" He repeated and Thomas turned his head away defiantly while the others exchanged looks. Rachel had tensed while Newt's eyes narrowed.

*A/N I'm so sorry everyone! I didn't mean not to update last weekend - but things happened and I didn't have my laptop which had all my written stuff saved on it. Normally I try to give you all a heads-up if there's going to be no regular update, so I'm sorry that didn't happen this time either. However, hopefully, one extra chapter this weekend will make up for it!


	9. Jorge and Brenda

"That's out business." Minho said firmly. Jorge looked at them before he jerked his head just a little. Two men suddenly stepped forward, grabbing Minho and Thomas.

"Hey!" Rachel shouted but more men grabbed the rest of them.

"Let go!" Rachel shouted as one grabbed her arms.

"Get your hands off her!" Newt shouted as he tried to shove his captor off to help her, but he was hit in the stomach while Aris and Frypan yelled at their captors.

"Get the hell off me!" Thomas shouted as the rest of them also continued yelling and squirmed in protest, but the men just pulled on them, dragging them to their knees with their arms clenched behind their backs.

Thomas yelled again: "Get the hell off me, man!"

But it was no use. The woman from earlier came over, grabbing Thomas's neck and shoving him down as she pointed something at the back of his neck.

"Shut up, you big baby." She mocked as she pressed the machine to Thomas's neck.

Rachel saw it scan something on Thomas's neck as he demanded: "What is that?"

Rachel twisted desperately in her captor's arms but he clenched his hands, pulling her arms tighter behind her and causing her to wince.

"Quiet, my pretty. Don't want to do something you'll regret, do ya?" The man breathed into her ear and she cringed away from his stench.

"Get off her!" Aris and Newt yelled, and Thomas and Minho tried to twist away from their captors as well.

The woman had stood up straight to look at the scanner and she said to Jorge: "You were right."

At those words, all the men let go of the teens and the woman handed the scanner over to Jorge. Newt grabbed Rachel, pulling her into his arms. The man snarled but both teens just glared at him. Minho checked everyone briefly, and Rachel glanced over at Aris.

The two exchanged curt nods as Thomas asked Jorge cautiously: "Right about what? What is she talking about?"

The group all looked at Jorge who'd smirked as he read the scanner. He looked at them as he said lightly: "I'm sorry hermano. Looks like you're tagged."

He indicated his scanner and they all glanced at it briefly before looking back at the man warily as he leered at them.

"You came from WCKD." He said, his face becoming serious as he stared at them.

"Which means…" He sneered, and Newt's grip on Rachel's shoulders tightened. Thomas and Minho's jaws set while Rachel's eyes narrowed. Jorge just finished darkly: "You're very… valuable."

The teens looked around uneasily as the men around them stepped closer once more. But this time, the men seemed to be enjoying making them nervous, coming closer slowly and threateningly. Newt's hands clenched and Rachel's stomach twisted. _I knew this was a bad idea._

* * *

"Great plan, Thomas." Minho griped.

Rachel rolled her eyes while Minho just continued sarcastically: "'Just hear what the man has to say.' Really working out for us."

"Oh, shut up, Minho." Thomas groaned from beside Rachel. The entire group was currently suspended in a circle over a hole in the warehouse, hanging upside down by their feet from the ceiling.

The hole went through several floors of the warehouse, making the drop from where they currently hung about fifty feet. Rachel was determinedly not looking down after having made that mistake once when they'd first been strung up. What was worse was that the blood was beginning to rush to her head, making it harder for her to think as the blood began to pound in her head.

"Maybe I can…" she heard Thomas mutter and she peered over to see him trying to bend towards his feet as he bit out: "…reach the rope."

He tried, jerking his body to try get some momentum into his swing, and the other boys copied, all of them grunting in their efforts. But none of them could reach. Rachel tried to pull herself up by grabbing her own legs, but the closest she got was her knees before she lost strength and fell back down.

"Enjoying the view?"

Rachel closed her eyes as Jorge's voice called and she heard the man step into the room. She twisted a little to look at him as he strolled in, and Minho snapped from behind Rachel: "What the hell do you want."

Rachel sighed a little, and she heard Teresa do the same from beside her. Jorge ignored Minho's hostile tone as he replied: "That is the question."

Rachel's eyes snapped to the man as he twirled his cane. He continued: "My men want to sell you back to WCKD."

He stopped before Thomas, saying dismissively: "Life has taught them to think small." He leveled a look at Thomas and he added: "I'm not like that."

He lifted his cane, tapping the decorated head in his hand as he continued: "Something tells me you're not either."

He looked at Thomas intently, and Minho mocked: "Is the blood rushing to my head or is the shank not making any sense."

Jorge looked over at them once, before lifting his cane, pointing the head threateningly at Thomas as he ordered: "Tell me what you know about the Right Arm."

Rachel frowned and Newt said what she was thinking out loud.

"I thought you said that they were ghosts." He called from where he was hanging beside Thomas.

"I happen to believe in ghosts." Jorge turned to him as he replied lightly.

He turned back to Thomas as he continued: "Especially when I hear them chattering among the air waves."

Rachel remembered how Jorge had been playing with the radio earlier and fought between suspicion and hope. If he chose not to hand them over to WCKD, there could be a way they'd survive through this mess yet. But he could also be leading them right into a trap.

Jorge had walked over to the lever of the pulley that held the ropes the group was tied to. He looked at Thomas directly as he said darkly: "You tell me what you know and maybe we can make a deal."

Thomas hesitated and Rachel bit her lip.

"Look, we…" Thomas began slowly.

"We don't know much." Thomas informed the man, and Rachel looked on, her stomach clenching anxiously as Jorge's face darkened.

Suddenly the man pulled on the lever, and they all dropped about half a foot, before the man jerked the lever back.

"Woah!" They all let out yelps of surprise and fear as their bodies dropped, before jerking to a halt that snapped their backs.

"Okay, okay, okay! Alright!" Thomas yelled desperately as they all calmed down from their brief panic. Rachel's heart was racing while the blood was pounding to her head as she reeled from both the shock and the impact of the abrupt stop.

Thomas held out his hands, almost as though he was trying to placate the man as he said quickly: "They're hiding in the mountains. And they attack WCKD and they got a bunch of kids. That's it, that's all we know."

He was gasping, probably from his own racing heart. Rachel watched Jorge's face remain stoic but saw a flicker of something as he appraised them, taking in what Thomas had said. She wasn't sure yet but it had almost looked like hope, before it was gone. He opened his mouth, beginning to say something, but was interrupted.

"Yo, Jorge." A man's voice called and they all turned to see one of the thugs from earlier walking in. He had a shaved head and a scruffy beard, and several scars on his face that looked like they had been inflicted by a knife.

"What's going on?" He asked as he looked between Jorge and the teens.

"Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted." Jorge said dismissively, but Rachel could almost feel the tension between the men.

' _He doesn't trust that man.'_ She realized.

"We're done now." Jorge continued, looking briefly at Thomas.

Rachel silently begged for Thomas to stay quiet, but of course the hothead blurted out: "Hey, wait. What?"

Rachel closed her eyes in brief annoyance as Thomas demanded: "You're not going to help us?"

Rachel saw the thug send a glance at Jorge, but Jorge just said coolly: "Don't worry, hermano."

He smirked as he turned away.

"We will get you back to where you belong." He sneered before he walked off.

"Hang tight!" He called back to them. Rachel watched as the thug watched Jorge go with a suspicious glare before glancing at the teens and then leaving as well.

"That went well." Rachel said sarcastically and Thomas muttered: "Shut up."

"Don't take this out on her." Newt sighed, and Thomas grumbled but didn't respond.

"How're we going to get out of here?" Teresa asked, and Rachel glanced at the lever and then at where their heads now were. When Jorge had dropped them, they'd come closer to the floor, and just maybe...

"If we could just swing over to the side, we might be able to pull themselves onto the ground." Rachel murmured.

The others all glanced over to see she was right but Minho pointed out: "Yeah, but the rope's too short. When we swing, it won't be long enough for us to crawl onto the floor. We'd just be clutching the sides of the hole, if we can even reach that far."

Newt added thoughtfully: "If we could just lower the ropes some more though…"

That sparked an idea in Thomas's head and he said: "If we can swing Rachel over to the lever, Rachel, you could pull it so we can go down a bit more and lengthen the ropes."

Rachel's eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly while Minho added firmly: "It's worth the shot."

"Why Rachel?" Newt muttered suddenly, disliking how she had to be the one risking her life to reach the lever. He could picture everything that could go wrong: hurting herself, or getting caught, or her rope somehow snapping from the propelling…

Thomas rolled his eyes while Aris groaned and Minho teased: "You worried for your girlfriend?"

Newt and Rachel blushed with embarrassment, but Teresa thankfully cut it: "Not now guys. The blood's rushing to my head and I really want to get down. Rachel's closest, so she's obviously got the best shot."

"Rachel, come over to me and I'll push you to Minho so he can swing you over." Thomas ordered and Rachel nodded. Minho smirked.

"Good thing you're small and skinny, Rachel. It'll be easier to swing you over." Minho teased and Rachel pursed her lips.

"I'll show you small and skinny-" she began but Thomas interrupted: "Any time now, guys."

The two mumbled while Newt rolled his eyes, but Minho began to swing a little while Rachel rolled and twisted so that she moved over to Thomas. She rolled over and then felt Thomas grabbing her shoulders.

"Minho, you ready?" Thomas asked and Minho replied: "Yeah."

Thomas pushed Rachel and she swung over into Minho.

"Gotcha." He said triumphantly as he caught her shoulders.

"You guys okay?" Newt asked, and Minho replied: "Yup, don't worry, your girlfriend's safe with me."

"I'm not his girlfriend." Rachel muttered at the same time Newt groaned: "She's not my girlfriend."

"Aww, cute, you're in synch." Frypan teased and they groaned.

But Minho had become serious now and he asked: "You ready?"

Rachel nodded and answered determinedly: "Yes."

"Okay," Minho breathed in deeply as he held her on her back, "one, two, three!"

He pushed her and she swung over. She reached as far as she could but she just missed the railing on the pulley.

"Ugh." She grunted as she fell back and Minho echoed the sound of disappointment as he muttered: "Not far enough."

"Shit!" Thomas muttered, but Rachel said determinedly: "Let's try again!"

"Come on, Minho! Push her harder." Newt ordered as he peeked over his shoulder at their progress. Minho took a deep breath before pushing her again. She swung but this time there was too much spin and she turned as she approached the railing.

It didn't matter too much because she was still short a little but it was frustrating and she let out a grunt as she swung back towards them.

"Shit." Thomas groaned again in disappointment while Minho grabbed Rachel again.

"Just a little bit harder, almost there." She said encouragingly and Minho snorted.

"That could sound so wrong." He muttered.

Thomas and Newt groaned, and Aris just shook his head as Frypan snorted. Rachel looked over at him blankly while Teresa ordered: "Get your mind out of the gutter."

He grinned before his face set determinedly again.

"This is it." He muttered. "One, two, three!"

He pushed her with all he had. Rachel swung over and this time she grabbed the railing, holding onto it tightly.


	10. Split

"Yes!" The boys crowed, and Rachel twisted to try and get upright as she gripped the railing on the pulley.

"Okay. Rachel, hurry!" Thomas called and Rachel muttered as she pulled herself closer to the lever: "Easy for you to say."

She pulled the lever and felt her legs drop to land on the floor while the boys and Teresa all cried out in shock at the sudden drop. She pulled it back to a stop, and as the boys swung about wildly, trying to get over their momentary panic, she pulled her legs in and began to tug at the ropes at her feet, working them off.

As soon as they were off, she motioned over to the boys. They began to swing over, pushing each other to help. Rachel grabbed Teresa who'd reached her first with help from Frypan and Minho, pulling her up.

Suddenly there was a bright search light on the building and Rachel's blood went cold as she heard Janson's voice over loud speakers saying: "Good evening. This is the World in Catastrophe Killzone Department. We have your compound completely surrounded."

"Quickly!" Rachel cried.

Thomas swung over and crawled up as Teresa pulled the ropes off her feet, while Janson continued: "You find yourselves, with no fault of your own, in the possession of WCKD property."

Teresa helped Thomas while Rachel caught Aris, helping him onto the floor as Janson continued: "Return them to us unharmed and we'll consider this a simple misunderstanding."

Teresa, Thomas, Rachel and Aris moved to help the others quickly, becoming frantic. The others were struggling to make it over without help. Janson continued: "Or you can resist, and every last one of you will die."

Rachel and Teresa spotted long poles and they each grabbed one.

"Newt." Rachel called as she held it out to him and he grabbed it with a grateful look.

Rachel pulled him up as the others did the same while Janson continued: "It won't be long before the Flare washes out every last one of us."

Teresa paused for a moment beside Rachel, but the younger brunette was too busy working the ropes off Newt's feet to notice while the boy crawled further in onto the floor.

"The hope of a cure lies in your hands. The choice is yours." Janson finished, just as the last of the ropes were pulled off. Newt stood up, grabbing Rachel into a brief hug before the others ran up to their side. He let her go but kept a tight hold on her hand as he urged Thomas past him towards the exit.

"Let's go. Let's go." Newt urged, and Thomas rushed passed with Teresa when he suddenly pulled to a stop. Rachel turned to look and grabbed Newt's arm. He also turned to see the thug from earlier standing at the doors, a gun cocked and leveled right at Thomas.

They all froze, the others jerking to a stop mid-run. Thomas raised his hands as he said desperately: "We're not trying to cause any trouble. We just, we got to get out of here."

They backed away a little as the man walked towards them.

"Is that so?" The man asked with a toothy grin, before he raised a walkie-talkie to his mouth and reported: "Janson, I got them for you."

Rachel paled and Newt's hand was a vice-like grip on hers as the man sneered at them while saying into the com: "I'm bringing them down. Don't shoot us."

He lowered the walkie-talkie and he ordered them, his gun still raised at them: "Come on. Let's go."

None of them moved, and the man walked closer to them as he said darkly: "I said, let's go."

Rachel held on tightly to Newt's arm as the man came even closer. Thomas suddenly jerked his hand up, shoving the gun up and away. It went off, the bullet shooting the air as Thomas fought the man for the gun, pushing forward. The rest of them moved after the wrestling pair in alarm, but the fight was short as Thomas head-butted the man.

The man staggered back and they all ran forwards but flinched back again as the man cocked his gun once more. Minho grabbed Thomas back as the group backed up once more, watching the man's livid face with wide eyes as he pointed the gun at Thomas's chest.

"You little bastard." He fumed, and Newt pulled Rachel behind him in alarm.

There was a bang and they all flinched, each of them expecting either pain or to hear a friend cry in pain. Rachel glanced down to check Newt over quickly, making sure he was okay, before turning back to the man frightened.

But the man's face had sagged before he fell to the ground and Rachel saw the woman from earlier with a raised gun that never left the man's body until she was sure he was dead. Rachel's stomach heaved as she glanced down at the dead man at their feet but she ignored it as best as she could.

The rest of group all looked from the man to the woman, trying to understand what their eyes were showing them.

"Okay, come on." The woman ordered as she jerked her head over her shoulder. She moved back to the doors and the group stood still in shock.

Newt glanced at the man, and then at Rachel. He noted her pale face but then she saw him looking and her eyes changed, becoming determined. The woman called urgently: "Come on, let's go!"

She ran out of the room, and the group exchanged looks before coming to a unanimous decision. Thomas took off after her and the rest of the group followed, Newt keeping a firm hold on Rachel as she clutched his hand like a lifeline; all of them missing Teresa hesitate for a moment at the back of the group.

The group ran through the warehouse, following Brenda, when music suddenly blared through the whole place and Rachel paused to look up in confusion. But Newt jerked her after him as they ran on, following Brenda up a flight of stairs.

They ran into another loft room where Jorge met them, calling: "Brenda!"

The woman stopped before him and Jorge told her urgently: "Hurry, we don't have much time."

"Much time for what?" Rachel asked but Jorge just urged: "Let's go! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Brenda motioned for them to follow as Jorge led them to a set of large windows, which he pushed open as he proclaimed: "Right this way!"

They stared to see a cable line running between this opening and into another building on the other side. Above a ten or so foot drop.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me." Frypan moaned, but Jorge ignored him as he checked the stability of a piece of cloth tied to a pulley on the cable, saying: "Plan B, hermano."

He looked over at them as he said seriously: "You kids want to go to the Right Arm. I'll lead you to them. But you got to owe me." He warned.

They glanced at each other but there was nothing else for it. Jorge grabbed the cloth, pulling it down and releasing the pulley as he ordered: "Follow me!"

With that, he jumped out the opening, riding down the cable towards the other side. They watched, flabbergasted but Brenda shouted at them: "Alright!"

They looked to her, still stunned, as she pulled another pulley loose and held out the cloth to them.

"Let's go!" She ordered. They hesitated for another moment, looking at the cable doubtfully but she said sharply: "Come on!"

Thomas finally urged: "Go, go, go!"

He pushed Minho ahead as he ordered: "Everyone, go. Go."

Minho grabbed the pulley and jumped out the opening, swinging down easily while Brenda urged all of them to keep going.

"Rachel, go!" Newt ordered as he pushed her ahead.

She grabbed the cloth but hesitated for a fraction of a moment, glancing back at him and he said urgently: "I'm right behind you, go!"

She jumped, and Newt immediately turned to send the next person but Thomas said sharply: "Newt, just go! I'll make sure everyone gets out."

He nodded and took the next pulley, jumping out just as the WCKD searchlight flashed and shone right on them. Rachel swung into Minho's arms and looked back in alarm.

"Looks like they saw us." Minho muttered and Jorge said urgently: "So let's hope your friends get here quickly!"

Newt swung in, landing on his feet, and moving out the way quickly.

"We've got to hurry." He warned and Minho nodded.

"We noticed." He answered as Rachel watched Frypan swing in. Newt moved to stand beside Rachel and she glanced at him worriedly.

"We'll need to run." She said quietly as Aris swung in next.

Newt nodded and answered simply: "Then, we'll run."

Minho and Frypan caught Teresa as she swung in. They looked out but there was no Thomas, and no-one standing at the opening opposite them.

"Where's Tommy?" Newt demanded and Teresa replied anxiously: "I don't know. Brenda suddenly took off and he went after her. He said he'd be right behind me."

Jorge was looking just as worried as he glanced around.

"We need to move." He ordered and Minho snapped: "Not without Thomas!"

Jorge replied sharply: "The song's about to end!"

Rachel glanced up, listening. They could still hear the song from here, but she didn't know what it had to do with anything.

"We're not going without Thomas!" Teresa shouted and Jorge yelled at them: "You think I want to leave Brenda? But when that song ends, the whole place is going to explode!"

Rachel paled and Newt's face had also whitened.

"What?!" He demanded and Jorge snapped at them: "Look, Brenda is smart and so is your friend, from what I can make out."

"Somewhat." Rachel muttered but Jorge just continued: "So if anyone can make it out, it's them. But you guys are no use to them dead or captured, so we run first. Alright, hermanos?"

He stared at them dead in the eyes and Minho and Newt glanced at each other. Newt finally turned back to Jorge and he muttered: "Alright, lead the way."

Jorge nodded and muttered something that sounded like: "Good."

He lead off, the others glancing back anxiously at the empty windows they'd come from before hurrying after the Spaniard. Jorge led them down the building, running down the stairs as he muttered: "Quickly, quickly."

They'd made it about halfway down when the song finished. Things went eerily silent for about five seconds before suddenly, there was an almighty boom. Rachel jumped and glanced out a window to see the warehouse exploding.

There was another ominous silence and then the warehouse began to collapse as the foundations crumpled.

"Oh, my God." Rachel gasped as Newt's eyes widened.

"Tommy." He whispered while Teresa shouted: "Thomas!"

But Minho noticed the angles of the buildings and realized where it would fall. He yelled: "Come on!"

"Come on! Don't look, just run!" Jorge yelled and they all ran down the stairs. As they reached the first floor, he yelled: "Come on, kids, run!"

They ran after him as he led them through the building, before suddenly stopping at a manhole. "Here! Quickly!"

He and Minho heaved the top off, Newt going over to help.

"Inside, now!" Jorge ordered. Minho jumped down first, and stayed there at the ready.

"Go!" Rachel urged and Teresa jumped in.

"Now you!" Newt ordered and Rachel jumped in without question. Minho caught her and put her down beside Teresa, moving out the way as Frypan dropped in next. Aris jumped in and then Newt, and finally Jorge.

"Everybody move!" He warned and they did as he said, moving into the sides of the tunnel.

"And duck!" Jorge ordered. Newt grabbed Rachel and pulled her in under him as they all ducked, huddled against the walls. There was an almighty crash and boom and an incredible wind threw dust into the tunnel, gushing past them.

They all coughed a little as the dust settled. Rachel glanced up to see the hole completely covered by the debris. The collapsing warehouse had fallen on their building, completely collapsing onto it and causing it to crash down.

"We're trapped." Frypan said flatly and Jorge rolled his eyes.

"Of course not, hermano." He said irritably as he got up and dusted himself. "Come on, I'll get you kids out and to the Right Arm."

Newt helped Rachel up as they all stood slowly and Minho demanded: "What about Thomas?"

Jorge sighed as he said: "Look, hermano. That kid had Brenda with him. If they both made it out alive, then she'll know where to meet us. The best chance is for us to move and get to the meeting point."

"And how do we know we can trust you?" Newt demanded and Jorge glared at him.

"You think I'd just lose Brenda for nothing?" Jorge snarled.

"You could. We wouldn't know." Rachel pointed out skeptically.

"Well, you'll just have to trust me, then, since I'm the best option you've got." Jorge retorted. They had no reply to that and so when Jorge made his way down the tunnel, his flashlight illuminating the way, they had no choice but to follow.

*A/N Also, some unfortunate news: with the summer over, I'm afraid it'll be back to one update per week again starting next week! I know I'm terrible, and after missing last week, too. But, I do wish everyone a pleasant end of the holidays and good luck on the new school term!


	11. Marcus

Jorge was an odd companion to have around. He could be incredibly sarcastic and extremely bossy, but when it came down to it he did as he promised. He led the group down the tunnel, working his way through the many different paths until they came out into a small shed, right by the mountains.

"Here." He called as they all climbed out of the hidden opening, Newt helping Rachel out.

"Take one each." Jorge instructed as he held out a backpack that Minho took warily. Jorge passed one to each of them, and Rachel opened hers curiously to see that it was packed with water, dried foods, a medical kit and a flashlight.

"It's got enough emergency supply for three days. We should reach the meeting point before then." Jorge explained and Newt repeated skeptically: "Should?"

Jorge sighed as he muttered: "You kids are difficult, you know that?"

Rachel smiled a little at that while Jorge just continued: "It _shouldn't_ take more than a day really, but with WCKD tracing you lot, it might take longer."

Newt nodded at that, albeit reluctantly, and they all tugged on the packs as Jorge moved to check that the coast outside was clear. Rachel saw Newt glancing back wistfully and took his hand gently.

When he glanced down at her, she offered him a small smile as she said softly: "Hey, he'll be alright. He's smart, most of the time," Newt grinned a little at that, "and you said he was your best 'runner'. He'll have made it."

Newt sighed but he nodded. He gave her a small smile and she grinned back at him encouragingly, squeezing his hand gently. Minho ruined the moment as he joined them, teasing: "Aww, Thomas is the best runner? What about me, Newtie?"

Newt rolled his eyes and he threw a light punch at his friend. Minho pretended to clutch his arm in pain, pulling an exaggerated hurt face that made Rachel laugh.

"Cut it out, shank." Newt said but he grinned and Minho just laughed before he walked off to where Jorge had stepped outside.

"Come on!" Jorge called and the group all trudged out, Newt still holding Rachel's hand. Rachel colored a little as Frypan and Aris wiggled their brows at the pair, but she ignored them as she held on, not wanting to let go.

They left the shed carefully, slipping into the shadows cast by the mountains. When they'd all grouped again, Jorge led them quickly through a path, heading towards what looked like another abandoned city. He urged them to keep quiet and keep low.

"You never know when one of those Cranks might be around." He'd said darkly.

"Where're we going?" Minho asked, and Jorge replied: "I know a guy in the city - Marcus. He used to smuggle kids up into the mountains, and if what you kids say is true, it'll have been to the Right Arm."

They all shared glances and Newt finally asked: "And we can trust this Right Arm?"

Jorge looked at them in surprise as he asked: "You don't know?"

They shrugged and Jorge snorted.

"How'd you lot even manage to stay alive?" He wondered and Minho retorted: "Brains and good looks."

Rachel and Newt snorted at that, and Jorge looked at the girl in amusement as Rachel muttered: "More like fools' luck."

Jorge seemed to appreciate that answer, although Minho pulled a face at her. Newt grinned at her, while Jorge explained: "The Right Arm's supposedly been taking kids, immune kids, to Paradise."

When they looked at him blankly, he sighed: "It really must have been dumb luck."

"Oi." Newt said offended while Minho looked accusingly at Rachel for having made the initial suggestion.

She had the decency to look sheepish but Jorge ignored them as he continued: "Paradise is a so-called safe haven, a place safe from the sun and free of infection."

He looked at them pointedly and Newt asked slowly: "Why're you interested in getting us there?"

Jorge shrugged a little, not replying. Minho and Newt exchanged looks, but let the topic slide. Rachel thought about Jorge's actions from before and how he'd worried about the young woman, Brenda.

She realized Jorge was probably hoping to get to Paradise with them, in exchange for helping them now. And it was probably also extended to Brenda, to get her to a safe place, away from the horrors here.

Rachel looked back at the man with new eyes. He obviously did have some heart, although she wouldn't say that it extended to them yet. But at least she knew that for now, Jorge probably would keep his word in taking them to the Right Arm.

The sun soon rose, raising the temperature by about forty degrees. Luckily, Jorge gave them a quick break soon after dawn, letting them quench their parched throats and urging them to eat some breakfast before they continued on. It was only a pack of dried fruits, but Rachel felt as though nothing had ever tasted as good as that last dried apricot.

Newt had tried to get her to eat some of his, worried about how bony she was but she'd pointed out he was just as skinny and had forced him to eat his full share while Minho rolled his eyes at them. Jorge had glanced over at the huddled pair in surprise, becoming thoughtful as he watched them before he smirked.

Newt and Rachel chose to pretend not to notice as they started back on their path.

Rachel did, however, begin to walk more with Teresa. She sensed the other girl's distress in not knowing what had become of Thomas, and she walked beside her in silent comfort.

While neither really exchanged words, Teresa did glance at her when the younger girl had come up beside her and she'd sent her a small, grateful smile. Rachel returned it and they walked in comfortable silence as they approached the city.

By early afternoon, they started to see movement.

Minho, Rachel and Newt tensed but Jorge waved them down and they soon saw why. These people were human… in the loosest definition. As they walked further and saw more and more people, Rachel's nose wrinkled and Newt's frown deepened before he moved to walk beside Rachel, taking her hand once more.

These 'people' were dressed in rags and skimpy outfits, especially the women. They also all lazed about in odd manners, looking dazed and peering at the passing group groggily. Newt's hand tightened on Rachel's, pulling her a little closer as some of the men wolf-whistled after her and Teresa, while the group all naturally tightened in, keeping the girls protectively in the center as they shifted uncomfortably.

"And you're sure this place is a good idea?" Newt asked Jorge in a low voice as they walked, and Jorge shrugged.

"Get used to it, hermano." He replied. "This kind of settlement's pretty common now. Life's been cruel to most folks; this is just how many have chosen to handle survival."

It was mid afternoon when they reached a plaza marked: 'Area A'. The square was packed with people, with far more activity going on than before. These people mingled, although it looked more like flirtations than actual interaction. With the crowd came more noise, although most of the noise seemed to be coming from a large white mansion at one end of the square.

Jorge led them towards that mansion, ignoring the uncomfortable looks on the kids' faces as several of the people around the mansion watched their approach intently. Their looks made the group nervous and they shifted tensely as they followed Jorge slowly; it looked almost like the gaze of predators salivating at the prospect of food.

They were met at the doors to the mansion by a blonde woman dressed in a loose brown dress, a scarf laid casually over the crooks of her arms. She had heavy makeup and swayed as she walked, her blonde tresses piled into a loose, half-up style. She glanced over the group briefly, leering a little suggestively at the boys in the group.

"What can I do for you folks?" She asked in a sultry voice but Jorge replied curtly: "We're here for Marcus."

She raised her brows at the man, looking him up and down as she replied slowly: "Marcus isn't here."

Newt and Minho exchanged glances but Jorge was undeterred as he said sharply: "Tell him, a friend's here to pay him a visit."

"And who is this friend?"

They turned to look at the man who'd addressed them. A slightly pudgy man in a purple shirt, with a thick gold chain around his neck and several rings decorating his fingers, stepped out of the front doors to greet them. Rachel was reminded of a great big greedy toad as the man looked at the group in general with a shrewd gleam in his eyes but the light disappeared as his gaze fell on Jorge.

"Well, well." The man drawled. "Look who we have here."

Jorge cut to the chase immediately as he greeted coldly: "Marcus. We need to chat."

Marcus looked almost bored as he replied lazily: "I'm afraid this isn't a good time."

Rachel gasped as Jorge jumped Marcus, throwing a punch at the man's face and knocking him over. The people around them scrambled out of the way, some of the women squealing, as Jorge grabbed the man's shirt and spat in his face: "Too bad. I'm in a hurry."

Marcus groaned, grabbing his throbbing jaw. Minho looked torn between amusement and apprehension, while Newt looked straight up uneasy. Rachel also didn't care much for both Marcus and the situation, and she was beginning to worry severely about Thomas. She could tell Teresa was thinking the same thing as the older brunette kept looking around the place searchingly.

"Have you seen Brenda?" Jorge was demanding of Marcus, who just sneered: "I don't know. Who's that again?"

Jorge threw another punch, this time at Marcus's nose. Rachel winced and Newt held her hand tighter, pulling her closer to him as Marcus groaned and held his bloody nose.

"Yeah, okay, small girl, short hair, right?" Marcus groaned and the group immediately stiffened. If Marcus had seen Brenda, Thomas couldn't be far away.

"Yes, now where is she?" Jorge demanded and Marcus pretended to think about it.

"I don't know; she left looking for some kids." Marcus said at last, sounding indifferent.

Rachel and Teresa exchanged worried looks while Newt and Minho frowned, but Rachel jumped as Jorge punched Marcus in the face again, hard.

She saw a bruise beginning to form around the man's eye as Jorge ordered: "Stop lying. Where are they?"

Marcus groaned, his head beginning to loll, and Jorge growled.

"You lot, follow me." He ordered the group. He proceeded to drag Marcus by the shirtfront into the house, dragging the protesting man upstairs. He shoved Marcus into an empty bedroom, before punching him again and sending the man to the ground, unconscious.

"Grab a chair and some rope." He ordered Minho, and Minho did as he was told. He sent a look at Newt, who let go of Rachel to grab a chair as Minho dug out the rope from his backpack.

Jorge had kept a careful watch on Marcus and as the boys came forward, he called Frypan and Aris over to help him shove the groaning man on the chair.

Rachel wondered why no one seemed to be stopping them, but as she looked around more carefully, she realized the people in this house were probably too gone past caring. The few people on the upper levels of the house all swayed and lazed about with dazed looks while raucous laughter and boisterous music blasted from downstairs. No one seemed focused or sober enough to care.

Jorge left Marcus on the chair as he turned to the group.

"Brenda and your hermano are probably downstairs. Go in pairs and look for them, and bring them up here." He ordered.

They nodded and were preparing to go when he added: "Oh, and you, hermanas," he indicated the girls, "had better stay here. Much safer."

Both girls started to protest but Newt cut them off as he ordered: "I agree with Jorge."

Teresa glared at him while Rachel pursed her lips angrily. Newt saw their looks and he said sternly: "We don't want to have to be guarding you two while looking for Tommy, do we?"

Teresa turned her head, sulking, but Rachel just glared as she folded her arms defiantly. Newt tugged on her arms, grinning as she pouted at him.

"Come on, love," he placated, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

She wrinkled her nose at him but conceded. He kissed her cheek quickly before he left with the other boys and Rachel's face went red as she felt Teresa and Jorge's gazes on her. She shifted on her feet, avoiding looking at them uncomfortably as she prepared herself to be teased.

"Well, isn't it nice to be young." Jorge teased and Rachel groaned.

Jorge just grinned a little as he asked: "So, your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend." Rachel muttered.

Jorge raised his brows while Teresa scoffed a little as she replied: "Sure he isn't."

"He isn't!" Rachel insisted, finally looking over at them.

Jorge was looking between the girls in amusement while Teresa rolled her eyes and replied: "Maybe not officially, but you two might as well be."

"Well, what about you and Thomas?" Rachel retorted, disliking all the attention.

Now Jorge was looking extremely entertained as Teresa blushed a little, but she replied firmly: "Well, our relationship is more complicated; there's a lot more to it than you know… now, at least. You and Newt are just too shy to admit the truth."

Rachel blushed again, but Jorge thankfully interrupted - though he sounded like he was trying not to laugh as he said: "Alright, hermanas, I think that's enough."

The two girls turned away, still blushing, while Jorge turned back to Marcus.

"Besides," Jorge's voice turned cold as he watched Marcus slowly coming back to consciousness, "we have something more important to discuss, don't we, hermano?"

He glared at Marcus, who glared back as his eyes came back into focus.

"Is that the way to treat an old friend?" Marcus asked mockingly, and Jorge's eyes narrowed. He threw another punch, causing both girls to wince.

Rachel looked away, not wanting to see the violence, and she found herself staring out the windows instead. A dark haired young man outside reminded her of her strange dream from the night before – was it only a night? – and Rachel wondered what it could mean.

Had she known Thomas? Why had he sounded so desperate? What connection had they had that he'd come to her for help and not Teresa? It had seemed clear from what Newt had said and how Thomas and Teresa acted that – though even they didn't remember – the two brunette teens had known each other from before the Maze.

So what was Rachel's connection to them?

As her thoughts wandered and Rachel stared unseeingly down below, she drifted off into a daydream.

* * *

 _"Rach! Did you get it?"_

 _"It's all here. Thomas, please tell me you know someone we can trust with this, and that it's_ not _Teresa."_

 _"It's not Teresa, she wouldn't understand anyway-"_

 _"Over there! I heard them over there!"_

 _"Shit, they found us."_

 _"Take it and go! Quickly! I'll cover you."_

 _"Rach-"_

 _"Go, Thomas!"_

* * *

Rachel jumped slightly, startled from her thoughts and her memory as the boys returned.

She looked up in surprise that they were already back, and then stood in concern as she saw Newt and Minho carrying an unconscious Thomas.


	12. Reunited

"Thomas!" Teresa called in alarm as both girls hurried over.

Brenda was walking behind the boys, and she told the girls tiredly: "He's fine, he's probably just passed out from being drunk."

"Drunk?" Rachel repeated in confusion, but Brenda just nodded in reply as she moved off to sit in an armchair across from Marcus and Jorge while the boys dumped Thomas onto the nearby bed. Teresa sat beside Thomas, gently caressing the boy's face as she stared down at him worriedly. Rachel moved to stand beside Newt as he rolled his shoulders, groaning a little.

"The shank's heavier than he looks." Newt muttered and Rachel smiled, while Minho agreed with a groan: "Yeah, you'd think he was a two hundred pound rock, not a scrawny kid."

Rachel chuckled lightly, although it was cut short as she winced when they heard another crack from behind as Jorge threw another punch at Marcus. Newt gently tugged Rachel off to the windows on the far side of the room, getting as far away from the violence as possible. Aris and Frypan sat in the armchairs beside Brenda while Minho stood with his arms folded between the armchairs and Thomas.

The whole group watched Jorge interrogate Marcus. Rachel winced as Jorge punched Marcus again, snarling: "Talk! Talk!"

A few minutes later, Rachel had had enough and she turned away from the scene, staring out of the window. She felt more than saw Newt move beside her, and then he was hugging her from behind, leaning his head on her shoulder. She sighed slightly, leaning back against him as he cradled her lightly.

Rachel absently played with his fingers, taking them in her hands and flexing and curling them alternately, as she stared without seeing out at the rather gloomy city. It was strange to think how quickly she'd become comfortable with him.

Part of it had to do with their strained situation- she recalled vaguely the saying that shared trauma could form the toughest bonds- but part of it just had to do with him. Rachel sighed a little again as she leant back on Newt, and he shifted slightly.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked quietly, his mouth pressed close to her ear.

She shivered a little as his breath fell on her neck, but she answered softly: "Just thinking about us and what'll happen now."

He tensed slightly and Rachel rubbed soothing circles on his hands to reassure him that her worries weren't too serious. He relaxed just slightly, and he murmured quietly: "We'll make it out of this alive. Promise."

She smiled a little, knowing even he didn't really believe his words. It was not a promise he could keep, but Rachel could hear the sincerity in his voice and that was enough for her. So she sighed a little, and leaned back against Newt. They stayed like that for a moment when a sharp gasp made them turn.

Rachel turned to see Thomas had awoken with a start, but Teresa was already calming him down. Minho moved over to Thomas, greeting with a sarcastic smirk: "Welcome back, you ugly shank."

Newt and Rachel rolled their eyes, but when Thomas sat up and looked around confusedly, Rachel smiled warmly at the boy. Thomas saw them by the window as he tried to get his bearings, and he nodded back when Newt nodded at him once. They all turned, Rachel unwillingly, back to where Jorge was still interrogating Marcus.

"I suggest that you talk," Jorge said with false calm, "you son of a bitch!"

Rachel flinched slightly and Newt sighed as Jorge shouted the last words, throwing another punch at Marcus' face. Newt wrapped his arms comfortingly around Rachel once more as Marcus's head rolled a little and he groaned.

"I'm sorry," Marcus said as he worked his jaw painfully, "you're going to have to leave my house."

Thomas had glanced over towards the others, getting up to walk closer to Jorge and Marcus. As he passed the pair near the windows, Newt commented dryly: "Looks like you've been having fun."

Thomas glanced at them pausing, while Jorge said more calmly as he looked down at the man before him: "Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you. Okay?"

He murmured and Rachel scoffed quietly. ' _Could've fooled me.'_ She thought as Newt stifled a smile, clearing knowing exactly what she was thinking.

Minho also shot Rachel a grin, before they all focused once more as Jorge demanded: "Where is the Right Arm, Marcus?"

"Wait," Thomas interrupted and they all glanced at him in surprise, "this is Marcus?"

He gestured at the man, making Rachel frown confusedly. Marcus meanwhile replied sarcastically: "That kid catches on quick. Hey," he called to Thomas as the brown-haired boy blinked at him, "are you the brains of the operation?"

Thomas frowned slightly while the man sneered back. Jorge demanded Marcus's attention once more as he grabbed Marcus by his hair, saying quietly: "I know you know where they are hiding."

Marcus merely looked back at Jorge evenly. Jorge suggested softly: "So you tell me and I'll make you a deal. You can come with us."

"I burnt that bridge a long time ago." Marcus snorted back, and he scoffed: "Besides, I make my own deal."

He leveled a look at Jorge as he added scathingly: "You're the one who taught me- never miss an opportunity."

Marcus laughed, almost giggling and Jorge's face changed, becoming a little horrified. He looked like he was hoping he was wrong about what he thought Marcus was saying. The teens had all tensed as they felt the tension in the air, and Newt asked Jorge quietly: "What's he talking about?"

Jorge didn't answer, but Marcus was willing to reply instead. He cocked his head to look at the pair by the window, making Rachel tense and Newt stiffen, as he answered: "I'm talking about supply and demand. WCKD wants all the immunes they can get."

Rachel blanched, and Newt's arms tightened around her. Minho, Aris and Frypan were starting to look a little ill while Thomas and Brenda became horrified as Marcus continued, sneering: "I help provide that for them. So, I lure the kids in, they get drunk, they have a good time and then later…"

He looked at each of them, clearly enjoying the effect his words were having.

"WCKD coms in," Marcus finished, jeering at the teens, "they separate the wheat from the chaff."

His eyes fell back on Rachel and Newt, and Newt's eyes narrowed while Rachel gripped his arm tightly. They stared back silently, while Jorge murmured: "I change my mind, hermano."

Marcus moved his eyes back to Jorge, looking almost bored, but a flicker of fear crossed his face as Jorge snarled: "Oh, I do enjoy hurting you."

Jorge punched Marcus, hard, sending the chair tipping backwards with the force of his blow. Marcus yelped while Jorge jumped him, pulling a gun from his pants pocket. Rachel's eyes widened as Jorge jabbed it under Marcus's chin, shouting furiously: "Talk! Talk!"

"Okay, okay, Jesus!" Marcus yelled, and Jorge paused. Marcus added hurriedly: "But, I'm not making any promises."

They all perked up and Minho walked over to help Jorge pull Marcus's chair back upright as the man: "These guys like to move around. They have an outpost in the mountains."

The group exchanged looks, hope beginning to swell. It deflated slightly as Marcus added with a scoff: "But it's a long way away. You got half of WCKD on your ass, you're never going to make it."

He chuckled again. The teens exchanged looks, mostly worried while Newt and Minho's expressions were already thoughtful as their minds whirled quickly to try find a solution. But Rachel was surprised when Jorge smiled easily as he agreed: "Not on foot."

The teenagers all frowned in confusion as Jorge leaned forward, placing his hands heavily on Marcus' shoulders as he asked calmly: "Where's Bertha?"

Rachel was surprised when Marcus's face - what could be made out of it under the bruises and blood - whitened. He breathed, in genuine horror for the first time that day: "Not Bertha."

* * *

Jorge smiled widely as he glanced back at Minho, who was sulking. He then turned to grin at Newt, the blond youth smiling toothily back as he bit back laughter. Rachel didn't even bother trying, laughing at Minho as she sat on Newt's lap, making Newt chuckle and Minho glare.

They were all piled into an old blue minivan with a cowboy-ish feel with the bullhorns attached on the front. Rachel and Newt had gotten dibs on shotgun, Rachel sitting on Newt's lap as he snuggled his face in her neck, hence Minho's pouting. Minho, Aris, and Frypan took up the middle seat, squashed into the tight space, while Thomas and the two girls sat at the back.

They were making very good progress as Jorge drove them quickly along the dust roads and deeper into the mountains. It had only been a few hours and it was just hitting late afternoon when they closed in on the Right Arm's last known location. Unfortunately, that was when they hit a roadblock.

There was a collective sigh as they saw the abandoned cars piled up in front of them. The group all piled out of the car to take a closer look at the dusty cars blocking the whole road, and Jorge said with a sigh: "Well. I guess we're on foot."

They all stared for a moment, unwilling to leave the car and go back to walking. But it wasn't about to get easier, and the group slowly began to move. Jorge and Thomas took the lead, the rest quickly following behind, as they walked in the midst of the car block.

What was puzzling was the state the cars were in. They looked like they had been left in a hurry and then raided, but something didn't feel right. Rachel wondered if maybe the Right Arm had had something to do with it, and if it meant they really were around.

The group dispersed slightly, peering amongst the cars and the steep mountain cliff, going up and down on either side of the road. Suddenly gunshots fired, raining down on them and glancing off the cars.

"Get down!" Jorge yelled as they all scrambled to their knees.

"Take cover!" Newt hollered as he grabbed Rachel, shielding her as they all scattered for the cars. Newt, Rachel and Minho hid behind one, while Aris, Teresa, Frypan and Brenda ran for one on the other side.

Thomas and Jorge had taken cover at the very back, closest to where Bertha was parked. Thomas called worriedly: "Is everyone okay out there?"

"We're fine." Teresa answered shortly, and Newt shouted back worriedly: "Anyone knows where the bloody shots came from?"

There was no response, although they could hear Jorge grumbling about something. Newt glanced at Rachel and Minho, who shrugged. The three carefully glanced around their car uneasily, but none of them were able to pinpoint where the shots had been fired from.

They heard more shots firing, a few aimed at Thomas, who'd had the same idea, and the others at their car. They quickly ducked back down, hiding behind the cars for cover once more.

"Damn!" Minho growled, and Newt grit his teeth.

Rachel glanced back to see Jorge and Thomas whispering urgently, and then Jorge called: "Everybody! Get set to sprint back to the truck."

They frowned, wondering what he was doing, when he added: "And hold your ears."

Minho's eyes widened, and he nudged Newt and Rachel, nodding at Thomas's hand. They looked, and both their faces paled despite the burning sun. Newt pulled Rachel into him as the three all stuffed their fingers in their ears, steeling themselves for the explosion Jorge's grenade would cause.

Except nothing happened. They exchanged frowns, slowly removing their hands only to hear someone say sharply from where Thomas and Jorge were hiding: "I said, drop it!"

They quickly whipped around to see two figures, wrapped up in scarves and thick clothing the completely obscured their faces, pointing their rifles at Thomas and Jorge. Jorge gingerly placed the grenade down and the trio exchanged looks. They silently conversed, trying to figure out something but they all came up blank.

"On your feet." The lead shrouded figure ordered, poking their gun at Thomas and Jorge.

The person beside the leader kept their rifle trained on the pair as the leader continued sharply: "Let's go, let's go!"

Thomas and Jorge quickly lifted their hands, and the leader ordered: "Move! Back up!"

"Easy." Jorge placated as the figure indicated with their gun while he and Thomas did as they were told, backing away and towards the others.

The figure beside the leader kept her gun trained on the pair as the leader turned to point at the rest of the group.

"You three, over here, now!" The leader ordered again, looking at Minho, Newt, and Rachel, who were furthest from the group. Newt kept Rachel shielded as they carefully made their way over to the others, all of them raising their hands in surrender.

"Don't be stupid, move!" The leader ordered Frypan's group, forcing them to come up as well. They were all starting to group back together, eyeing the guns warily as they kept their hands raised high.

"Slowly." The figure behind the leader ordered and Rachel frowned- for some reason, the voice sounded familiar, although it was slightly muffled by the scarf.

She peered carefully around Newt, trying to get a clearer view, and Rachel met eyes with the figure at the same time the leader glanced around and their eyes fell on Aris.

"Aris?" The figure suddenly asked, their tone confused. The rest of the group frowned, glancing at the boy in question as the leader lowered their gun.

Aris squinted at the leader, as the second figure gasped: "Rachel?"

Newt's frown deepened, but Rachel's eyes were wide as she recognized the blue eyes behind the scarf.

"Sonya." She breathed, and the figure pulled down her scarf to reveal the familiar blonde-haired beauty from Maze B.

Aris's face also filled with realization, and he murmured as he stared at the leader in shock: "Oh my god. Harriet?"

She replied by removing her scarf, shaking out her braided hair.

"You're alive." Rachel gasped before she and Aris darted forward.

Sonya moved to meet Rachel, the two girls hugging tightly as Harriet hugged Aris, murmuring in shock: "What the hell are you two doing here?"

The others all looked on blankly as Sonya said to Rachel: "Rach, you're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass."

"I can't believe you guys are alive." Rachel answered as she let go.

Harried had let go of Aris and she moved to hug the brunette girl as Sonya reached over to Aris. The ex-Group B leader asked them concernedly: "You made it out safely? Not hurt?"

Rachel nodded her head, and Harriet's face filled with relief while Sonya checked: "You two sure you're alright there?"

"How-?" Aris wondered as he let go of Sonya and looked at the pair in amazement.

"Uh, what's happening?" Minho interrupted, looking very confused.

Newt had figured it out after hearing the girls' names, remembering them from Rachel's stories, so he was less surprised as Aris turned and explained: "We were in the Maze together."


	13. Right Arm

Minho and Frypan raised their brows, glancing at the two new beautiful girls, and Rachel rolled her eyes- it wasn't hard to guess what the pair were thinking.

Newt also looked faintly amused by their reaction, although he kept glancing at Rachel a little wistfully as she stood sandwiched between Sonya and Harriet as Harriet put two fingers to her mouth and whistled sharply.

"We're clear, guys!" She shouted into the mountains around the car block. "Come on out!"

Rachel looked around in awe as she saw small figures hiding at various points up the mountain, one of the figures shouting to the others: "Stand down!"

The figures all lowered their guns, peering down at the group as they in turn looked up in sheer amazement.

Sonya meanwhile turned back to her friends, hugging both Rachel and Aris as she murmured with a happy sigh: "My God, you're alive. You're really alive."

She patted Aris's face, making the boy grin, and Rachel smiled as she caught Jorge eyeing Aris, almost with new eyes. She had to snort. ' _Men… and boys.'_ She thought wryly, before she caught Newt glancing at her. As their eyes met, she smiled at him and a small one tugged at his lips in return.

Harriet gestured at the whole group, and they followed her and Sonya through the car block, heading into a tunnel. Rachel and Aris walked beside the pair, feeling more comfortable amongst familiar friends. The rest followed a little more slowly, less sure of the new faces as Thomas looked around warily.

"Back it up, Joe!" Sonya called as they reached the end of the tunnel, and they watched, impressed, as a man pulled the last car out from its position blocking the tunnel entrance. Rachel was surprised when they walked out and saw several soldiers, coming down from their posts in the mountains, and climbing into several jeeps.

"Wow." She murmured, impressed.

Sonya shot her an amused smirk, while Harriet told one of the soldiers: "We're taking them to base."

"Wait, so, how did you guys get here?" Aris asked curiously as they walked.

The Group A kids trailed behind, Jorge and Brenda coming up behind them, while Harriet explained to Aris and Rachel: "The Right Arm got us out."

"Wait, wait." Thomas suddenly cut in as he walked faster to catch up to the four.

Harriet stopped beside a car, looking back at the brunette boy with raised brows. Thomas asked, undeterred: "The Right Arm? Do you know where they are?"

Sonya also raised her brows, glancing at Rachel, who saw the look and made a face. It had clearly asked: ' _Is this guy for real?_ ' and Rachel nodded back at her friend. Harriet meanwhile took it better, simply smiling and opening the jeep door.

She looked at the Group A boys expectantly, saying simply: "Hop in." while Sonya dragged Rachel to ride shotgun with her.

As the boys clambered in the back, Sonya opened the front door and asked her friend quietly: "So, who's the cutie?"

Rachel glanced at her in surprise, before turning beet-red as Sonya wiggled her brows and added slyly: "The one who can't stop looking at you for more than five seconds."

"Shut up." Rachel muttered, her face burning with embarrassment. Sonya laughed as she climbed in, while Harriet joined the three as Rachel got in after Sonya.

"Who's the blond?" Harriet also asked Rachel softly as she settled beside the brunette girl.

"That's what I asked!" Sonya laughed, while Rachel's face became, if possible, even redder.

"Please, shut up." She moaned at her friends.

"No, seriously. You came out of a Maze filled with girls and immediately found yourself a boyfriend?" Harriet asked laughingly as the driver started the car.

Rachel groaned, making the other girls giggle harder, but didn't respond. She glanced back towards Newt, her face growing warmer as he glanced over at her at the same moment. Their eyes met and he looked at her questioningly, so Rachel shook her head, smiling a little to show she was all right.

"Aw, cute." Sonya cooed sarcastically, making Rachel turn back to her friend so that she could smack her. Harriet chuckled as Sonya pretended to clutch her arm and whine in pain, making Rachel smack her again but harder. Sonya scowled as she rubbed her arm - which actually stung a little now - while Rachel smiled smugly.

The rest of the drive went on in silence as they sped down several dirt roads, before finally arriving before a large camp. Rachel's eyes widened in amazement as she took in the sheer size of the encampment, bustling with movement as everyone worked. There were people gathering water supplies, setting up shelters for the night, managing food supplies, and more.

"This is incredible." Rachel murmured, and Sonya nodded.

She explained: "They've been planning this for over a year now."

"This is all for us." Harriet chimed in, looking back at the rest of the teens pointedly.

"You guys are lucky you found us when you did." Sonya added as she also looked back at the whole group.

She met eyes with Minho, lingering for a moment before she turned back to the front, finishing: "We're moving out at first light."

Rachel was amused to see Minho also glance over at Sonya a few times even after the blonde girl had turned away as they walked.

' _Looks like Aris has competition.'_ She thought in passing, before quickly dismissing the thought. Being back with girls, and having just been grilled by them on her relationship with Newt, had brought back girlish thoughts, but they would have to wait.

It seemed the other two girls agreed, as they became serious once more, Sonya asking a nearby soldier: "Where's Vince?"

"Somewhere over there I think." The man answered as he pointed off to the side.

The girls led the way once more, Rachel falling back slightly to walk with Newt. He glanced at her, taking her hand covertly, and making her smile a little. Thomas meanwhile had moved forward, taking Rachel's place as he asked Sonya: "Who's Vince?"

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet answered, making the group look over in a mix of surprise and apprehension.

As they walked further into the camp, taking in the huddled groups of people all of varying shapes, sizes, and ages, Minho commented skeptically: "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army."

"Yeah, we were." A voice called in answer.

They all paused, and Harriet and Sonya turned completely to face the man approaching them from a nearby tent. He was older, maybe mid-forties, and he had probably seen better days. But underneath the coarse tanned skin and weathered face, Rachel detected the distinct aura of a leader.

"This is all that's left of us." Vince continued as he walked over, spreading his arms to indicate the camp.

He examined the new teens, making them shift slightly under his intense scrutiny. He continued flatly: "A lot of good people died getting us this far."

He stopped before the group at last, and he questioned Harriet: "Who are they?"

He nodded at the group, and Newt's grip tightened on Rachel's. Harriet answered reassuringly: "They're Immunes. Caught 'em coming up the mountains."

"Did you check 'em?" Vince asked as he glanced over the group skeptically.

"I know these two." Harriet replied as she pointed at her friends, introducing: "Rachel and Aris. I trust them."

Sonya and Harriet moved aside, the former nodding at Rachel reassuringly. She also raised her brow as she spotted Newt's hand over the brunette's, but didn't comment as Rachel wrinkled her nose.

Rachel turned her eyes back to Vince as the man said flatly: "Well, I don't. Check 'em." He ordered.

The group waited patiently, when one of the men suddenly piped up: "Hey, boss."

Rachel glanced over, before starting in alarm as Brenda let out a raspy gasp before collapsing to the ground.

"Brenda!" Jorge cried, darting forward to check on the fallen young woman while the group hovered uncertainly around them. "Brenda."

"Is she all right?" Rachel asked worriedly, and Newt shook his head as he admitted: "I don't know. What's wrong with her?"

He glanced questioningly at Thomas, who'd been around her longer, Rachel doing the same. They both frowned as they saw indecision flitting across Thomas's face, and Rachel asked: "Thomas?"

Teresa also glanced up at the boy, while Thomas tensed as Jorge called urgently, trying to get Brenda to focus and speak: "Brenda. Brenda! Brenda, talk to me."

"I'm sorry." Brenda gasped, her voice raspy as though she was struggling to speak through a parched throat. "I'm sorry."

"What happened?" Jorge asked, while Vince asked as he leant in: "What's going on with her?"

"I don't know." Jorge admitted, before turning back to his charge as he called desperately: "Brenda, are you alright? Brenda. Talk to me."

Vince, however, had caught sight of the short woman's leg, and he frowned as he noted the somewhat bloodied cloth wrapped around her ankle, just above her boot.

"What the hell?" He muttered as he leant in carefully to check it, and Rachel glanced over just as Vince removed the cloth to reveal an infected bite-mark.

She gasped, gripping Newt in horror, while Vince physically reeled away from Brenda as he shouted: "Oh shit!"

Newt stepped in front of Rachel protectively as Vince backed away, pulling his gun and pointing it at Brenda as he warned: "Crank! We got a crank."

His men clamoured around, pulling their own guns at the group and dragging the group out of the way, and Jorge yelled: "Stop!"

"No no no..." Thomas cried as he dashed between Brenda and Vince while Rachel struggled against the men holding her and Newt flung off the men holding him to reach for her. "Wait wait wait..."

"Step back!" Vince shouted warningly. "Step back!"

"Just listen. Listen to me. Listen." Thomas urged, holding his hands out pleadingly as he explained: "Okay, look. It's just happened, okay. She's not dangerous yet."

"Well, you shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince roared, and Thomas begged: "I know, I-"

"If we let cranks in here now, safe haven doesn't last a week." Vince spat, and he ordered Thomas: "Step back!"

"Let me go!" Jorge shouted, struggling against his own captors while Newt backed Rachel away from the chaos, urging the other Group A boys to keep back as well.

"But, Thomas-" Teresa began, but Minho answered firmly: "He's got this, let him handle it."

Indeed, Thomas was holding his ground before Vince as he said with forced calm, trying to placate the older man: "Alright, I understand. Okay. I understand, alright. Just-Just listen to me, please."

He stared at Vince beseechingly as he begged: "Please, okay. I told her you could help. Okay?"

Brenda was gasping on the ground, her face pale and her lips going an alarmingly dark blue shade.

Rachel watched her worriedly, wondering how they'd missed her suffering until now and feeling rather frightened by just how quickly Brenda's health had turned. They should've realized it, they'd seen Winston struggle before he'd eventually collapsed the same way Brenda had.

"Please." Thomas begged, but Vince's jaw locked and he muttered: "No."

"There's got to be something you can do." Thomas begged, and Vince glanced at him.

"Yeah, there is." He growled, and then he clicked the safety on his gun. " I can put her out of her misery."

Thomas's face fell, while Jorge shouted: "No!"

Sonya bit her lip and turned her head while Harriet bowed her head, and Newt quickly turned Rachel's head away as he murmured: "Don't watch."

Rachel's hands were clutching him so tightly her knuckles had gone white as Jorge screeched in agony: "No!"

"Vince!" A voice cut sharply through the air. "That's enough."

Rachel turned her head to see a woman striding over, her face set as she pointed at the men holding Jorge and ordered: "Let him go. Let him go!"

They did as she said, Jorge falling to his knees and crawling over to cradle Brenda.

Vince hadn't lowered his gun as he said grimly: "She's infected, Doc."

The woman stopped by his shoulder, her eyes glancing over the group, and Rachel was surprised as she paused on Thomas, a look of recognition blossoming on her face even as Vince continued: "There's nothing we can do for her."

"No." The woman murmured in agreement, her eyes still fixed on Thomas. "But he can."

She nodded at Thomas, while the others all frowned in confusion. The boy himself also looked puzzled as he stared at the woman, who smiled at him as she greeted: "Hello, Thomas."

Vince also stared at her in confusion, glancing between her and Thomas as he asked blankly: "What?"

"You know me?" Thomas questioned, and the woman nodded, looking faintly puzzled herself as he murmured: "Interesting. Make sense they put you in the Maze."

She moved passed him to check on Brenda, kneeling beside the girl as she added: "Though I must admit, I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."

Thomas frowned, asking in confusion: "What I did?"

The woman was checking Brenda's pulse and forehead, touching for a fever, and she explained grimly: "The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore. Watching your friends die, one by one."

Rachel glanced between Thomas and the woman, and then at Newt as the woman went on: "The last time we spoke, you give me the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trial and lab."

Rachel blinked, while Vince's eyes widened and he now looked at Thomas with almost awe as he murmured: "He was our source."

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." The woman agreed, before she ordered the men: "Take her to the tent."

She nodded to Brenda, before adding as she gestured to Rachel and the group: "Get these guys some warm clothes."

Rachel watched as the men carried Brenda away, before looking at Thomas to see he was staring at Teresa. The girl seemed almost to be refusing to meet Thomas's eyes, glancing instead at the ground.

She then turned to Newt as he let out a sigh of relief, and he glanced at her. He smiled a little, finally feeling as though there was hope that they would really be safe now, and Rachel felt her lips curve up in a similar, answering smile. Maybe, just maybe… things were going to get better.


	14. Safe

Rachel giggled like a schoolgirl once more as she sat between her old friends. With Aris on one side and Sonya on the other, while Harriet sat just across from her in their small circle, Rachel could almost pretend that she was back in the Maze.

Sure, there had been a lot wrong with that – a lot of terrifying and devastating things that were wrong – but, at least life had been simpler and their purpose clearer. It had been less than a week for her in the Maze before they escaped, so perhaps that was why she held a few happier memories than the others.

She hadn't been around long enough to feel the weariness of having been trapped in that hell for two years, and some of those they had lost the night she had escaped she hadn't even known that well. Harriet and Sonya had known all of them, however, and it had definitely been harder on them that first night out of the Maze.

But, still, Rachel could tell that they too enjoyed having their friends back and feeling like things were kind of normal as they could relax by the fireplace while they chatted. They started off with the basics, retelling in detail what each side had gone through.

Harriet insisted Rachel and Aris start, so Aris had explained everything that had happened since Thomas and the others had arrived at the WCKD base, recounting their travels with Rachel chiming in. They also explained quietly what had happened to Winston, before going on to how they'd met Brenda and Jorge.

Once Aris had finished, he and Rachel pressed Harriet for details, and the leader briefly recapped what had happened when she'd been taken into the secret lab that WCKD had been hiding from the Maze survivors. The Right Arm had had spies planted in several facilities – where some of them had even managed to aid in getting the facilities shut down – and those spies had helped the Right Arm save the first group of teens who had been taken back to 'Paradise'.

Since then, Harriet and Sonya had stayed on to help the Right Arm in their cause, while always hoping that others from their Maze had survived and escaped. Unfortunately, Rachel and Aris were the first they'd encountered since they'd joined, but as Sonya pointed out at least this meant that they were right to keep the faith.

As they spoke, Rachel wondered what this 'safe haven' that Harriet and the others in the Right Arm were talking about could be like. They discussed it, each of them guessing, and laughing as they started to make more and more ridiculous guesses like imagining a place where all the buildings were made of food that never went bad, or a huge body of water where you could actually paddle in.

It was as the sun was going down, when a call interrupted their jokes.

"Hey, Aris!"

They turned to see Frypan waving at them from where the Group A boys were gathered slightly higher up on the mountain, sitting on a jutting ledge, and Aris waved back while Rachel grinned back at them as dark-skinned boy pulled a cheeky face.

"Hey, guys!" Aris called, and Frypan nodded before turning back to his conversation with the other guys as Aris turned back to the girls.

"Okay, so enough chatter." Harriet began seriously. "Seriously, Rachel, who's the blond?"

Aris snorted while Rachel pursed her lips as she said firmly: "He's called Newt, and he's just a friend I made, along with the other Group A boys."

"Yeah, you looked like 'friends'." Harriet answered sarcastically, making Sonya laugh, and Rachel blushed.

"Seriously, Rach." Sonya added. "He's not stopped looking at you since we found you guys. And don't think I didn't see him holding you earlier when that whole thing with the crank woman happened."

She nodded slightly towards the tent where Brenda was being held, and Rachel muttered: "Her name's Brenda."

"Right, Brenda." Sonya nodded. "And don't try to distract me."

Rachel made a face, while Harriet observed: "You really like him, huh?"

"What makes you say that?" Rachel demanded, a little annoyed they'd figured her out so quickly.

"You also keep looking at him when you think no-one's watching." Harriet deadpanned. "And, I don't know, Rach. Call it a feeling, but I can tell you really care about the guy."

"You're such a hopeless stick like that." Sonya added teasingly, and Rachel jabbed her elbow into the blonde's side as she retorted: "Shut up."

"So, you do like him then, huh." Sonya chuckled, even as she rubbed her side, and Aris snorted again as he confirmed for them: "Oh yeah, she's got it bad."

"Aris!" Rachel hissed while Harriet and Sonya laughed.

Meanwhile, the Group A boys lounged on the mountain side, looking down on the camp below as the Right Arm continued to pack up and got ready to leave in the morning. At the foot of the mountain, closest to the boys but still rather far away, were Aris and Rachel as the pair sat chatting with their friends beside a campfire.

The boys had just been resting, catching a break for once, as they also idly chatted the afternoon away though Thomas kept glancing curiously towards Rachel.

He'd seen her in his dreams, and he knew her, he was certain. With the new information that Dr. Mary had given him, Thomas had a fairly good idea _how_ they were connected. What he didn't understand was why he'd asked Rachel for help in collecting all the WCKD base coordinates, and not Teresa.

"I wish Alby could've seen all this." Newt murmured suddenly as he looked out at the Right Arm's camp in general, and Frypan agreed: "And Winston."

"And Chuck." Thomas murmured as he fingered the small wooden figurine that the young boy had given him when he'd died, the sole reminder of his parents that he'd forgotten when he'd entered the Maze.

Newt glanced over at the other teen, and he said seriously: "He'd be proud of you, you know, Tommy."

"Yeah." Thomas sighed, while Minho continued to watch Aris.

It had been at that point that Frypan had called to Aris, to have the boy smile and wave back while Rachel grinned back at Frypan's cheeky antics.

"I kinda like that kid." Frypan commented as he lowered his hand, and Minho smirked as he answered a bit reluctantly: "Yeah."

"I still don't trust him though." Minho added, which made Frypan snort and Thomas chuckle.

Newt smiled slightly as Rachel's eyes glanced over at him once before she turned back to her friends, and he turned back to his own… to find them all wearing matching grins as they stared at him.

"Slim it, shanks." Newt ordered, and Minho smirked: "We haven't even said anything yet."

"You didn't have to." Newt retorted, and Minho laughed.

"You able to read my mind now, Newtie boy?" The Asian teen teased, and Newt just rolled his eyes while Frypan chuckled again.

Thomas meanwhile was looking around, and the boy chimed to ask curiously: "Hey, where's Teresa?"

"She went up there." Newt replied, jerking a thumb further up the mountain.

Thomas nodded as he moved off, wandering after Teresa, while Minho said to Newt pointedly: "Trying to shift the attention on lover boy number two?"

"I said slim in, Minho." Newt replied, when Frypan piped up with a mischievous grin that matched Minho's: "Technically, Thomas was love boy number one."

"Yeah, but Newtie boy wins because he's trying a lot harder with his girl." Minho dismissed.

Newt aimed a punch at the Asian boy while Frypan guffawed, but the former Runner easily dodged the former second-in-command's fist with a wide smirk.

"I miss the days I would say an order and you shanks actually listened." Newt muttered, and Minho piped up jokingly: "Oh, so you mean never?"

This time Newt managed to land a hit as Minho and Frypan laughed, but even the blond's lips were twitching as he tried to repress his smile.

"Oh and hey, Newt." Minho went on as his face became very serious.

Newt frowned as he wondered what could make _Minho_ so serious, while the Asian boy continued: "When you and Rachel finally stop tiptoeing around each other, tell her to put in a good word for me with Sonya."

Frypan started laughing while Newt hit Minho again as the Asian boy chortled, his serious expression fading instantly as he laughed at his joking non-joke.

"Keep this up, shanks, and you won't ever hear a good word from me again." Newt playfully threatened back, making the other two laugh harder.

"Ooooh, look at that, he's not denying that he wants to become serious with Rachel." Frypan teased, and the two clowns laughed some more while Newt gave up on them.

"Still, though." Again, Minho turned serious and Newt rolled his eyes.

He was surprised, however, as Minho said sincerely: "I'm happy for you, Newt. You had to put up with a lot of shuck back in the Maze, a lot of stress and worry. It's nice to see you find something better, something worth living for, you know?"

Newt looked at Minho in shock and gratitude, before snorting as Minho added as he gestured to himself: "Well, aside from this good-looking."

It was so typically Minho to be unable to maintain seriousness outside of what they called his 'runner' mode.

"Thanks, shank." Newt said a tad sarcastically and Minho answered cheerfully: "You're welcome, shank."

But despite it all, Newt was grateful to have some of his friends with him. It wasn't just him that had struggled in the Maze – they all had. And to see them having a shot at a better life, and all of them together; it made Newt smile.

The trio sat gazing at the sunset; or, Frypan and Minho did. Newt's eyes kept drifting down to where Rachel was alternating blushing and laughing with her friends. He wondered what they might be talking about, and if Rachel was thinking about him as he was her.

Newt had to smile when her eyes flitted across to meet his once more, and she smiled. He grinned back, his smile widening when he saw Rachel's friends whisper something to her that made her blush. Maybe they were talking about him?

The thought made his heart skip a beat as he wondered what Rachel might have told them. Or what she thought of him. They hadn't really said anything on the budding relationship between them, but Newt felt it was undeniable what they had wasn't just friendship. And he hoped she thought that way too, and that he wasn't just getting ahead of himself or picking up the wrong signals.

Though, if her embarrassment as she hit her friends even while sneaking smiles at Newt was any indication, he wasn't getting it wrong.

"Hey, what's that?"

"What?" Newt asked blankly as he turned to Minho, who repeated with a frown as he pointed into the distance: "What's that?"

Newt turned to look, and his own brows furrowed as he saw bright white spots coming towards them from the horizon, the white lights getting brighter as whatever it was got closer while the sun continued to set.

"Yeah, what is that?" Newt wondered as he slowly got to his feet, Minho doing the same while Frypan said slowly: "Those look like headlights."

"It's also coming from where we came from." Newt remarked tightly, when Minho said: "Sh. Listen."

They paused, and Newt's eyes widened as he heard the distinct sound of chopper wings, still faint but there was no mistaking it. And only one organization could possibly have the resources for that many helicopters and carriers.

"They're here." Newt whispered in horror, just as the rest of the camp seemed to notice the approaching danger.

Rachel had been one of the first to notice something was wrong, having looked surreptitiously back towards Newt as she chatted with her friends amongst the bustling sounds of the rest of the camp. She had then frowned when she saw Newt – and the other two from Group A – staring with alarmed expressions into the distance.

Rachel turned to look, spotting the approaching lights and helicopters in the dimness of twilight, and her eyes widened just as a shout rang out above all other noises from the camp.

"RUN!" Newt yelled down at the others from his place on the ledge, just as one of the helicopters flying ahead of the large carriers came upon the camp.

A bomb came flying down, before exploding in the middle of the Right Arm's camp, throwing up a huge ball of flames. People started to scream and belatedly move as more helicopters and bombs started to rain down on the camp, clearly aimed at the large supply tents and trucks though it caught a lot of people in the blast as well.

"Run!" Harriet yelled, and Sonya shouted: "Vince!"

"I'll get him, you lot get the others out of here before it's too late!" Harriet shouted, and Sonya hesitated but then nodded.

"Come on!" She yelled at Aris and Rachel.

The latter also hesitated briefly, glancing up towards where Newt had been, but Aris pulled her firmly as he shouted: "Rach, come on!"

Reluctantly, but realizing they were in more danger if they stayed put, Rachel turned and ran with Sonya and Aris. They started to shout and herd people towards the mountains, trying to make a last minute break even as WCKD closed in around them.

The three Group A boys meanwhile ran down towards the camp, wanting to help and needing to regroup themselves with Thomas and Teresa; possibly Brenda and Jorge too. Minho yelled as he easily took the lead: "Everybody, run! Make for cover!"

Newt spotted men in dark gear dropping down from the helicopters into the middle of the camp, armed with guns, and he yelled: "Minho! Look out!"

Minho spotted the same thing, and the three dashed for cover as helicopter searchlights beamed all over the camp while the soldiers started to fire what appeared to be taser-bullets at the crowds of people running away.

"Where's Thomas?" Frypan gasped, while Newt searched for Rachel.

"He could be anywhere." Minho replied grimly; after all, Thomas had gone far off after Teresa, the pair could easily have hid in a better spot wherever they were far from the camp.

"Harriet!"

Newt glanced over to see Vince shouting from an armed truck, firing his own rifle at the WCKD soldiers while he yelled for Harriet: "Ammo!"

The dark girl appeared, carrying the ammo for the machine gun set up on the back of the armed truck, and Newt's eyes widened as he searched but didn't see the familiar brown hair he was desperately looking for.

"Shuck!" Newt gasped, and Minho spotted the same thing.

However, the former Keeper of the Runners instantly focused on the machine gun as he saw a chance for them to make it out, and he yelled as he ran towards the truck: "Vince! Harriet!"

"Come on!" Harriet yelled at them, and the trio quickly ran over, taking cover by the truck. "You need to cover us!"

"Ammo!" Vince yelled at her, before spotting Minho and the others. "Hey! You know how to use this thing?"

He handed his rifle over to the Asian boy, who nodded. He'd never used one before, but now was as good a time to learn, and Minho aimed as Vince ordered: "Cover me!"

Vince took up position at the machine gun, as he added: "This could be my only chance!"

Harriet had handed out guns to the other two teens, and Newt took up position on the other side of the back of the pickup truck from Minho, the two covering for Vincent as they opened fire on the WCKD soldiers.

Frypan took up position behind Newt, just as the second-in-command fired and hit one of the soldiers aiming at them. Well, at least it appeared he could aim.

Newt tried to focus on only that, as he continued to fire at the soldiers, while Harriet fired from behind Minho. The four teens were covering the back of the truck as best as they could while sticking close to the metal for cover as more and more WCKD soldiers started to circle around them.

"Vince, hurry up!" Newt yelled. "They're too many of them!"

"I'm out!" Frypan yelled as he ran out of bullets on his gun, just as a grenade came flying towards them.

"Look out!" Minho yelled, but it was too late. The grenade hit the back of the pickup truck, landing next to Vince's feet, and it let out an electric field across the entire radius of the truck, blasting Vince and all of the teens with the taser.

They all fell instantly, rendered immobile by the taser's power, and the WCKD soldiers soon swarmed them, capturing them along with all the others in the Right Arm.


	15. WCKD is good

Newt glowered as he sat on his knees between Frypan and Minho, Harriet and Aris on Frypan's other side. They were at the very front of the crowds of people forced into lines behind each other on all sides while the one of the two carriers came flying in and finally landed not far away.

He and the others had come to, to find themselves captured already and in place. Aris had already been there earlier, having been one of the first caught when WCKD attacked after he'd stopped to help another fallen woman. It was grave news to the blond from Group A, as there was still no sign yet of either Sonya or Rachel, and Aris hadn't seen them either since the chaos started.

However, WCKD was still rounding people up, even as the groups of people sat under close watch. None of them were tied or cuffed in any way; they didn't have to be. The WCKD soldiers surrounded them completely armed with their taser guns, and without weapons, Newt and the others knew they would easily be recaptured.

"Get off!"

The group glanced up as a distinctly feminine voice snarled viciously from nearby, and they saw first Sonya and then Rachel finally being dragged in.

Newt's heart clenched even as relief flooded his body, as he took in Rachel's ragged appearance. She had a small cut on one side of her face and her hair was a mess from where she'd clearly been running and fighting the soldiers, similar to Sonya and Newt himself.

"Let go!" Sonya growled again, while Rachel came more silently, using every ounce of energy to dig her heels into the ground in an attempt to get away from the soldier dragging her.

It was no use as both girls were hauled in to join the others, though Rachel's eyes lit up with grim relief as she met Newt's eyes as she was dragged passed.

The soldiers shoved the two girls down on the end of the line, and Rachel quickly looked down at Newt. He tilted his head questioningly at her, and she nodded to show she was all right. He nodded back, before his eyes darted up behind Rachel.

She glanced back as well, just as one of the WCKD men grabbed the back of Sonya's head and forced her to bend forward so that he could scan the back of her neck.

Sonya grunted in surprise, but the soldier held her firmly in place as he scanned before calling to the lead male standing before them: "B4."

The man noted it, as the WCKD soldier moved on, grabbing Rachel's neck and shoving her head down so that her neck was exposed, just as Janson strode up into the middle of the gathering.

"How many did we get?" He demanded, while the WCKD soldier called: "B2."

He let go of Rachel's neck, and she looked back to shoot a glare at the man while the lead man answered to Janson: "All of them, give or take."

"B1."

Newt glanced over at Rachel again, and she nodded to reassure him she was still fine just angry, as Janson turned to his operative.

"Give or take what?" He demanded.

"B3."

"Well, they lost a few." The other man pointed out, as the soldier called while scanning Frypan: "A6."

Janson nodded, turning away, as the soldier called while scanning Newt: "A5."

Newt shrugged the man's hand off his neck forcefully before the man could let go, feeling angry at how helpless he was. Minho clearly felt the same as the former runner growled when the soldier grabbed his neck, scanning before he called: "A7."

Minho also shrugged the man's hand off with a wrench, his face set in a scowl as he glanced at Newt. Newt could only look away – what could they do? They were trapped with no way out that he could see.

What puzzled him now was only two things: where were Thomas and Teresa? And _how_ had WCKD managed to find them?

His eyes flickered down the line to meet Rachel's grey ones once more, and he added another worry to his list: what was going to happen to them now? He'd die first rather than let them hurt Rachel; it was somewhat surprising considering the short period of time he'd known her but Newt knew he would place his life on the line for her.

Rachel was gazing at him with eyes that held a mix of fear and fierce determination; and Newt wondered what she might be thinking. Little did he know, she was thinking exactly the same thing he was, coming to the same conclusion and grim decision that Newt had – she would die willingly if it meant Newt would be safe.

Janson meanwhile was glancing amongst the captured teens, and he turned to the man taking records as he demanded: "Where is Thomas?"

"I'm right here."

Newt and Rachel's heads whipped around so fast they almost had whiplash, and Rachel's jaw actually dropped incredulously as she saw Thomas walking towards them with his hands in the air in surrender.

' _What is that dumb stick thinking?!_ ' Rachel thought, aghast. ' _He should run, what the hell is he playing at by coming here of his own accord?_ '

Soldiers surrounded the teen instantly, grabbing him and pulling him – even though they didn't have to – towards the centre where Janson was.

The older man smiled widely as the brunette teen was brought before him, and Janson greeted warmly: "Thomas."

He reached out, as though to hug the boy, before ramming his fist into Thomas's stomach. Thomas lurched forward, grunting from the pain while the others sucked in sharp breaths even as some people in the crowd gasped.

Vince started forwards in anger, but he was grabbed and dragged back into place by another soldier while Janson ordered as he gestured at Thomas: "Get him in line."

Thomas glared balefully at Janson even as he was dragged into place besides Minho, but Janson just smirked at the teen before he turned away once more.

"Okay." He called to his men. "Bring her in."

The others glanced down the line towards Thomas, and Rachel just managed to hear Minho ask Thomas: "Why didn't you run?"

"I'm tired of running." Thomas replied, causing the others to shoot more glances down at the boy.

Rachel was frowning as she wondered, ' _So… it's better to be captured and experimented on?_ '

It was at that point that the second, much larger carrier came flying in, and they all looked up to watch with silent dread as it landed, throwing up sand everywhere.

Their dread wasn't misplaced, and Rachel's jaw clenched as a familiar, blonde woman – clad in all white – came striding down the ramp, escorted by a private guard.

Ava Paige glanced around at the group, before she asked Janson calmly: "Is this all of them?"

"Most of them." Janson confirmed.

There was a moment's silence, and though Rachel couldn't see Paige's expression, she could definitely feel the chilly air radiating off of the woman.

Janson apparently felt the same as he stated firmly, and a little defensively: "It'll be enough."

There was another moment during which Paige stared Janson down, before she ordered: "Start loading them in."

Rachel tensed, while Janson nodded: "Yes, ma'am."

He then called to his men: "Okay, you heard! Let's go, get them on!"

Rachel looked over in alarm as the soldiers began pulling the people at the backs of the lines up onto their feet, shoving them one by one towards the carriers. She met eyes with Newt once, fearful, before she looked up, startled, as Paige stopped before her.

"Hello, Rachel." Paige greeted, and Rachel frowned in confusion as the others also glanced over curiously.

Rachel didn't notice as she stared up at Paige. She didn't know this woman… did she? All she knew of Paige was that she had been the woman in the tape WCKD had shown them when they'd first escaped the Maze.

"Yes, they told me they hadn't managed to return your memories to you before you left the compound." Paige observed as she saw Rachel's blank look. "A pity… perhaps you may have acted differently if you had known more."

Her eyes then moved on to Thomas as she added softly, so faintly that Rachel wasn't even sure she'd heard right: "Or perhaps not."

Paige moved on to the brunette boy next, leaving a very puzzled Rachel, as she motioned for the WCKD soldiers to bring Thomas forward.

The man did just that, pulling Thomas roughly to his feet and Thomas went without a fight as he stood before Paige while she smiled without any warmth.

"Hello, Thomas." She greeted coolly, and Thomas just stared back in a mix of defiance and uncertainty. Although, Minho, Newt and Rachel frowned as they thought the latter emotion was forced somehow, as though Thomas was acting.

Some movement to the side caught their attention, and they looked over before Rachel sucked in a sharp, surprised gasp as Teresa was escorted into the circle as well.

The brunette girl Paige did greet warmly, the blonde woman saying to Teresa kindly as she drew her close under her arm: "I'm glad you're safe."

"What?" Rachel gasped as she saw the uncomfortable and even guilty expression on Teresa's face.

The older brunette teen shot her a look, her blue eyes pleading for Rachel to understand, but Rachel was coming up blank on that front. She _couldn't_ understand; and she wasn't sure she ever _would_ , so-called memories (this she thought with another glance at Paige) or not.

It seemed the others mirrored her feelings, as Minho asked as he stood up with equal parts shock and disgust: "What the hell?"

"Teresa." Frypan murmured, also staring at the girl with betrayal shining deeply in his eyes.

Only Newt tried to give the girl a chance as he asked firmly: "Wait, what's going on?"

"She's with them."

Thomas's tone left no room for arguments as to what Teresa had done, as if his words themselves didn't already provide enough confirmation. The teen wasn't even looking at Teresa as he spoke in a cold, hard tone, while Teresa stared at him beseechingly.

"Since when?" Minho demanded in a dark tone as he looked at Thomas, wondering how the brunette knew.

Newt however pursed his lips as he thought he knew how – Thomas had gone looking for Teresa earlier. He'd had time to speak with the girl alone, right before the attack, and if he'd chosen to, Thomas could have run. But he'd come back… after Teresa's betrayal became clear.

"Oh, Teresa always has an evolved of appreciation of the greater good." Janson answered lightly as he sauntered over to rub the salt into the group's wounds. "Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time."

He smiled at Thomas – who had to be taking the betrayal the hardest – and the boy stared back with undeniably hurt and hateful eyes.

Perhaps it was that last look that finally broke Teresa as the girl blurted out to him, and to the rest of her friends: "I'm sorry. I had no choice. This is the only way."

Rachel's brows furrowed and she looked away as Teresa pleaded: "We _have_ to find a cure."

 _At the cost of more lives._

It was clear what the rest of them were thinking, and Teresa bit her lip as she saw only hurt, betrayal, and varying degrees of disdain on the faces of those whom had been her friend… who had believed her to be their friend.

"She's right." Paige stood up for the girl as the group just stayed in stoic silence. "This is all just a means to an end. You used to understand that, Thomas… Rachel."

She looked right at the boy and girl, ignoring the other. Newt glanced at Rachel, whose frown had deepened as Paige continued: "No matter what you think of me, I'm not a monster; I'm a doctor."

"No." Rachel shook her head as she spoke quietly, looking up to meet Paige's eyes dead-on with her own determined grey ones. "I don't know why you think I would support this… but I see the monster you refuse to see in the mirror."

"You think so?" Paige asked with a thinly veiled smile. "You wouldn't be so certain if you had your memories back. You used to be one of us, Rachel."

Rachel hesitated just slightly at that; it was true, she didn't have her memories. And if what Paige was saying was right – and Rachel had to admit she thought there was some truth in it, given Teresa's strange questions to her at the beginning of their escape – then she _had_ once been one of WCKD.

However, Minho and Newt didn't even hesitate to back her as the latter responded: "Tommy was one of you as well – and now he's clearly not."

"You sent her up into the Maze, like you did with Thomas." Minho agreed while Paige pursed her lips and Teresa glanced around nervously. "And after what we've seen, I'd say I trust Rachel more than I do either of you."

Rachel blinked, touched by their solid support for her – even though they'd only known her for about a week-and-a-half – when Frypan also nodded in agreement with his friends. Thomas remain silent, though his gaze pointedly showed whose side he was one as well. Yes, maybe he and Rachel had once been WCKD; but they were at least now choosing not to be.

Paige's eyes narrowed and she hissed: "I swore an oath to find a cure. No matter the cost."

She looked at each of them as she insisted: "I just need more time."

"More blood." A voice called loudly from behind.

Rachel turned to see the female doctor, the one who'd stood up for Brenda, standing beside Vince as she glared at Paige with hostility.

Paige, for her part, looked unflustered as she greeted coolly: "Hello, Mary. I'd hoped we meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

"I'm sorry about a lot of things too." The doctor – Mary – answered grimly as she stared Paige down determinedly. "But not this. At least my conscience is clear."

"So is mine." Paige answered calmly.

And Rachel jumped when a gunshot rang across the desert.


	16. Noble Shank

Rachel wasn't the only one – all of them flinched before looking around wildly for the source.

At first, it was a little disconcerting as Rachel didn't know who'd fired at whom, but slowly Rachel's eyes widened as she saw Janson pointing a still-smoking gun while Vince's hoarse voice cried in horror: "Mary. Mary. Mary!"

Rachel lifted her hands to her mouth as she fought a scream and an urge to gag as Mary dropped to the ground, blood already seeping out onto the ground from the bullet wound to her stomach. And all the while Vince yelled as the soldiers held him back: "Mary! Mary!"

Thomas stood, frozen in shock and horror as he stared between Janson, Paige, and Mary as Vince flung the soldiers off, yelling: "Get off of me!"

He flung himself down beside the dying woman, cradling her as he called: "Mary. Mary!"

But it was too late, and as Janson lowered his gun with a smirk, Mary closed her eyes as she breathed her last.

"NOOOO!" Vince wailed, his screams tearing into the group. Rachel flinched back, wishing Newt was beside her as Vince continued to cry: " MARY! No."

Paige just turned around, unaffected, as she ordered: "Come on, Janson. Load them up, let's go. All this people. Get rid of them."

Rachel's eyes widened in terror at Paige's words, and she looked between Paige and the group of older Right Arm rebels who were about to die because they couldn't be of use to WCKD.

She then yelped as a WCKD soldier grabbed her arm, starting to haul her away towards the carrier, while another two were already pulling Sonya and Aris ahead of her.

"Sonya!" Harriet cried as she saw them being taken. "Aris! Rachel!"

"Rachel!" Newt yelled, even as a soldier tried to reach for him, while Rachel struggled tooth and nail against her captor as she spat: "Let go of me!"

"Get back!"

A loud voice suddenly shouted from behind, and suddenly all movement ceased as the WCKD soldiers all spotted Thomas waving a grenade in his hand.

The grenade that, Rachel recognized with a jolt, Jorge had given Thomas earlier that very day before they'd met the right arm. A trigger-explosive that would go off three seconds after Thomas released his finger from the trigger.

"Now!" Thomas yelled threateningly at the WCKD soldiers even as the men aimed at the boy. "Everyone stand back!"

"Hold your fire!" Janson yelled as he ran quickly to stop his men from firing while Thomas continued to yell: "Everyone stand back!"

The others had all flinched away, though mostly in alarmed surprise at Thomas's surprise move. But as the commotion died slightly, with a line of WCKD soldiers facing and aiming at Thomas while Janson and Paige – and Teresa – turned back to address the teen once more, Rachel wrenched her arm free of her captor and moved to stand beside Harriet, who was closest.

Together, they watched as Thomas warned Janson and Paige: "Stay back."

He then gestured behind the pair – and Teresa – at the captured people in the carriers (and at Aris and Sonya who were still partially between them and the carrier) as he ordered shakily: "Let them go."

"Thomas, put it down." Janson warned, even as he held out a hand warily against the grenade in Thomas's hand.

"Let them all go!" Thomas yelled, done with trying to negotiate with WCKD.

But Paige was equally firm as she returned sharply: "You know I can't do that!"

"Thomas, please stop." Teresa begged, chiming in as she hurried to stand behind Paige, gazing at Thomas pleadingly over the older woman's shoulder. "I made a deal with them. They promised. They _promised_ we'd be safe, all of us."

Rachel tensed, while Thomas asked scathingly, clearly feeling the same way as Rachel: "Okay. I'm supposed to trust you now?"

Teresa flinched as though she'd been slapped, and the hurt was clear in her eyes. But Rachel couldn't quite bring herself yet to feel sorry for the girl – maybe if she'd been caught with her hand in a cookie jar, then Teresa deserved to look that way. But after she'd sold them all to what was worse than death?

"It's true." Paige added as she saw the clear looks of disbelief on not just Thomas's face but all of their faces. "It was her only condition."

"Shut up!" Thomas yelled at her, but Paige continued as she said serenely: "Everything can go back to the way it was."

Rachel almost wished she could slap the woman for her tone more so than even her words; _how_ could she be so calm? Act like she was as pure as the clothes she wore? After all the kids that had died – Beth, Miyoko, Ximena, and so many others, including Winston – how _could_ she?

As Rachel struggled to keep her cool, Paige queried: "Thomas. Do you really want all of them to die?"

She gestured at the group of teens, his _friends_ , who were also close enough that they would surely also be killed along with Thomas and Paige and her followers if Thomas released his finger.

Thomas hesitated, as Jason added: "Listen to her, Thomas. _Think_ about what you're doing."

Thomas hesitated, his jaw clenching even as pained tears prickled at his eyes, when suddenly-

Paige's eyes widened while Thomas's shoulders relaxed just slightly as first Minho, then Newt and Frypan and Rachel, and finally Harriet walked over to stand in solidarity behind Thomas.

"We're with you, Tommy." Newt said firmly, and Teresa gasped as she stared at her friends in horror: "No."

"We're on your side." Rachel added firmly, and Newt glanced at her before wrapping his arm around her and holding her close.

Rachel burrowed into his side, even as she steeled herself along with the others for their certain death, and Paige whispered with perhaps her first genuine emotion as she stared at the group in shock: "Don't, Rachel."

Minho's gaze was steely as he countered grimly: "Do it, Thomas."

"We're ready." Frypan added, and Rachel held out her free hand to Harriet.

The ex-leader of Group B took her hand, holding on tightly as Thomas took a deep breath, saying as he looked straight at Janson: "I'm not going back there."

"Thomas." Paige whispered, looking pained, and Thomas looked right at her as he lifted the grenade in his hand, saying firmly: "It's the only way."

Thomas's hand was shaking even as he closed his eyes and readied to release the trigger. The others also closed their eyes, prepared, and Teresa turned her teary eyes away.

"Thomas!" Paige screamed, actually reaching towards the boy in utter fear and desperation, when a loud car horn blew from behind them.

They all glanced back in confusion, and Rachel's brows furrowed as she saw one of the Right Arm's trucks zooming across the planes towards them… or rather, towards one of WCKD's helicopters.

Her eyes widened in shock as the truck ploughed right into one of the transports on the edge, smashing the helicopter's side and careening it off onto its side, where its still-whirring blades snapped off.

"Look out!" Someone yelled as pieces of metal came flying through the gathered groups of people, narrowly avoiding hitting anyone.

Newt threw himself and Rachel to the side to duck as another piece came flying towards them, before they looked up in shock as – amidst the chaos – WCKD and the Right Arm began to run around.

The Right Arm soldiers had used the momentary opening to run for their confiscated weapons, grabbing guns and getting back firepower while those who couldn't fight started running all over the place to create more confusion before they scampered for the mountains.

The WCKD soldiers were initially more hesitant, dithering around their leaders as they remained undecided whether to protect or attack. It was Janson who got them to move, albeit a little late, as he yelled for two guards to take Paige and Teresa out while he ordered the others to fire on the Right Arm.

Meanwhile, the group of teens was as yet unarmed and easy targets, having been too close to WCKD when the chaos started. As they paused, uncertain what to do, a line of WCKD soldiers came running towards them, shouting: "Freeze!"

Thomas blinked, looked from his hand to the approaching soldiers, and then threw the grenade at the soldiers.

"Run!" Thomas yelled at the others, and Newt and Rachel scrambled to their feet before running quickly just as the grenade exploded behind them.

The blast sent them pitching forwards slightly, but Rachel regained her balance quickly and pulled Newt with her as she ran after Harriet.

"Come on!" She shouted as they all ran towards the mountain.

Rachel spotted Jorge – of all people – jumping out from the Right Arm truck that had crashed into the helicopter, and she realized with a jolt that Brenda and Jorge hadn't been amongst those captured.

It was as she thought that, that she spotted Brenda – high up on the mountain as she fired like a pro sniper down into the chaotic camp, taking out WCKD soldiers. Harriet had scooped up a pistol herself, and she, too, opened fire on the approaching soldiers, covering Rachel as she yelled: "Go, go, go!"

Rachel ran on, Minho pulling ahead of her as she ran with Newt, while Frypan came up behind them. Vince also reached his machine gun, able to fire it at last now that it was fully readied and loaded, and he opened fire on the soldiers as he exacted revenge for Mary.

Harriet spotted the man, and she hesitated, and Rachel saw her look.

"Go to him!" She shouted as she ran on with Newt, and Harriet yelled back: "You get out of here! All right?"

"Only if I see you there!" Rachel shouted back as she sprinted away, though she knew Harriet's heart ached along with her that they hadn't been able to save Sonya and Aris with them.

The pair had already been too close to the carrier, and the instant the chaos set in, they had been dragged inside. Sonya might have been able to escape, but not Aris – and the blonde wouldn't have been able to leave him on his own.

' _We_ will _find them._ ' Rachel thought to herself as she ran with Newt, hand-in-hand. ' _We_ will _escape today, and then go back for them._ '

She then almost stumbled as Minho stooped in front of her, the boy picking up a gun on the ground. Newt righted her instantly, while Minho yelled at them: "Get out of here! Go!"

He fired at the WCKD soldiers chasing them, providing cover as Rachel and Newt ran ahead, Frypan right after them while Thomas came tearing up far behind.

"Careful, Minho!" Newt yelled behind him as they ran, while Minho walked backwards as he covered them, yelling at the last one running: "Come on, Thomas! Get out of here."

Thomas ran passed the former Keeper, and he yelled as he cleared the other teen: "Minho, let's go!"

"Get out of here, go!" Minho yelled after him as he fired at one more soldier, taking the man down in order to buy his friends at least a little more time.

Frypan had found a good cover far up the mountain, where the supply stash had been so there were a good many crates to use as blaster cover. The teen ducked behind one, and Newt quickly darted in next, pulling Rachel with him.

"Thomas! Minho!" Rachel called worriedly, letting out one sigh of relief when the dumb stick Thomas at least made it to them.

"Get down!" Newt ordered, reaching behind Rachel to pull Thomas down just before a gunshot could hit him, while Rachel yelled down the mountain at Minho: "Minho, hurry up! Come on, go!"

The teen was still too far, dangerously far, and Rachel saw in an instant that Minho had made a fatal mistake in not running when Thomas had cleared him. From their vantage point, they could see what the boy hadn't been able to – a trio of WCKD soldiers coming through the blowing sand to pick off any last people that they could before the carriers took off.

"Minho, run!" Rachel screamed, at the same time that Newt and Thomas saw what she had.

But it was too late, and to top the catastrophe off Minho didn't have any bullets left in his gun, leaving him a sitting duck as the WCKD soldiers came up on him.

"Minho!" Rachel, Newt, and Thomas yelled, just as Frypan peaked over to see what the commotion was about and right as Minho was shot in the chest. On one hand, it was thankfully a taser bullet and not a real one – on the other, it was almost worse than if Minho had just been killed.

The teen stumbled back, landing on a nearby overturned barrel so that they could see his face as he gasped from the shock he'd received.

"Minho!" Thomas yelled as he started to dart out to run towards his friend.

"Thomas!" Rachel yelled, and Newt shouted as he ran after his friend: "No!"

"Minho!" Thomas yelled, but he was too far.

"Thomas!" Newt yelled as he chased his friend, and Rachel cried in terror: "Newt!"

A blast just missed the teen and Rachel tore after Newt and the dumb stick Thomas, Frypan running with her. All around them, the remaining Right Arm soldiers were backing up the mountain, Jorge and Brenda with them as they fired what they had left at the WCKD soldiers to keep the men from following them.

Only Thomas – and his friends chasing him – ran the other way, as the brunette boy screamed: "Minho!"

Rachel saw one of the soldiers aiming for Newt, and she leapt, grabbing the teen and shoving him down just before the soldier fired. The bullet missed, flying over their heads, and the pair sat up with a gasp before Rachel pulled Newt behind a crate as more bullets came their way.

"Thomas?!" Jorge, thankfully, stopped the hysterical and suicidal boy, yelling: "No! Go!"

He shoved Thomas back, where Frypan caught his friend. The former cook quickly dragged his friend back to cover behind another crate as they avoided more blasts sent their way while the WCKD soldiers grabbed Minho and started hauling the incapacitated teen away.

"Minho!" Thomas shouted in despair now, for there was nothing they could do but watch as Minho was dragged away from them and into the carrier.

"Minho." Newt gasped, pained, and Rachel took his hand in hers as Vince yelled for them to move, urging them all further up the mountain.

"Minho!" Thomas wailed as Frypan and Jorge pulled the teen with them up the mountain, after the others where they stood and watched as the rest of their friends and comrades were taken away.

"Minho..." Newt whispered.

Rachel grasped his hand tightly as they watched helplessly as the carrier doors closed on Minho as the teen was dragged to where Sonya and Aris and all the others were, behind Janson, Paige… and Teresa. And they could only continue to watch as the carrier took their friends away as it flew off high into the air and far into the distance once more.


	17. Author's Note

I'm so sorry everyone, but you've probably noticed I haven't been updating. The thing is, my laptop was stolen last weekend. And amongst the other horrors that brings, it means I've lost everything that I've written so far. All my chapters that I was looking forward to sharing with you, gone. Poof.

Because of this, I'm afraid all my stories will be on hold until I get back on track. That said, this is also my promise that I WILL come back, it just might take a while with all the stories I was working on. So I ask that you be patient until then, and I hope to see you all when I get back.

Thanks again to all my readers and see you again in the future!


	18. Plan

The rest of night was spent in mostly silence as people tried to get some rest after the harrowing events of the evening. Vince refused to allow anyone near the camp, just in case, and most particularly because it was now so dark it would be easy for someone to get hurt wandering dazedly about in the mess below.

With his firm order, most lay down and tried to sleep – others didn't even bother trying as they just sat and waited the night out.

The teens who remained of Group A and B were of the latter group. Newt refused to let go of Rachel's hand, and eventually she sat between the blond teen's legs, leaning against his chest as he held her tightly in his arms. Frypan sat close to them, needing the comfort of familiar faces; while Thomas sat far apart from the group.

They let him, leaving him to have some privacy to nurse the wounds Teresa had inflicted on him with her betrayal and to come to terms with the fact that Minho had been taken. He needed the time alone, it was just who he was.

But they all knew that each of them were struggling to bear with the same weights that now lay heavily on Thomas's shoulders. The first, Teresa's betrayal, was a bitter pill for all of them to swallow as well… and Minho's capture was something they were all affected by.

Minho had been one of the bravest Gladers, and as Keeper of the Runners he had been highly respected. More than that, he had been Newt's friend for two years – the only two years they remembered. He was a friend for life; and to have him yanked away like that… well, it wasn't any easier for Newt than it was for Thomas.

Rachel too had grown close to the Asian boy, despite his constant teasing; the two had clicked instantly, feeling an instant understanding that came from both of them being runners. They thought alike – when Minho thought at all – in the way they were constantly looking for openings and escape routes, just in case they needed to run; in the way they fiercely trusted their wits in the face of danger.

And Sonya had been like that, too, Rachel thought with another pang.

There were those extra losses for her, having gotten to know the Group A boys but first and foremost having come from Maze B.

Sonya and Aris's capture was another painful ache in her heart; now Aris was back in the hellhole he'd helped her escape – the hell he'd promised her he'd help her escape. And Sonya was only back there because she'd been looking out for Aris, Rachel was certain of this; the blonde runner was just as strong and as fast as Rachel. She would have had a chance to make it if she'd broken off and escaped – but she'd never abandon a comrade.

The thoughts continued to swirl in Rachel's mind for the rest of the night, as it did for all of them.

It was a very wearied and depressed group that got up when the sun rose over the mountains. There were a lot of things to do before they did anything else – first, they needed to scour the camp to salvage whatever they could from the mess that WCKD had made of their supplies.

Then, there were the dead to honor. The wounded had been treated to during the night, but the dead still deserved a proper cover, even if they couldn't afford to bury them. The mountain ground was too rocky and hard to try, and they just didn't have the luxury of time even if they would try.

The teens got up with the others, helping collect whatever supplies they managed to find, and packing them away. Vince meanwhile led a team to gather the dead in a line, covering them with fabrics as they lay to rest forever.

The sun was reaching midday by the time they finished, and Rachel stood up after packing up all the scattered medical supplies she'd managed to salvage from the dirty ground. She looked over to see Newt squatting down beside an overturned barrel, staring at a piece of WCKD armour silently.

She knew what he was thinking about, and she walked over slowly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He placed his own over hers, not needing to look to know who it was, as they silently mourned their lost companions.

Frypan had been nearby, and he too bowed his head as he thought about Minho… and everyone else they had lost since waking up in the blasted Maze. It was clear Newt and Rachel's thoughts weren't far behind as the former's eyes continued to stare into nothing while he chewed his lip and Rachel's grey eyes swam with unshed tears.

"What do we do now?" Frypan asked at last, his voice soft and exhausted – more so from the emotional burdens than the physical weariness.

Newt didn't answer, but Vince, Harriet, and Thomas had been close enough in their respective positions to have heard the boy over the dead silence that reigned over the camp; and it was Vince that answered first.

"Now we pick up what's left of us," the man replied sorrowfully, "we stick to the plan and get you kids to the safe haven."

Newt glanced over, before he looked back down as Vince sighed before he stood up and finished: "And we start over, I guess."

There was a brief moment's silence during which Rachel thinned her lips, before she looked over as Thomas abruptly stood up and slung a bag over his shoulders.

"I'm not going with you." He informed Vince firmly, though his voice too was subdued after the previous night's events.

"I knew you'd say that, you dumb stick." Rachel sighed as she leaned back, while Newt stared at Thomas and then Rachel in shock.

Vince was in a similar shock, and he asked as he checked he'd heard correctly: "What?"

"I made a promise to Minho." Thomas explained, his tone still firm. "I wouldn't leave him behind, and I have to go after him."

Newt raised a brow, glancing at Frypan as he stood up once more beside Rachel.

Rachel was looking at Thomas with an unreadable expression while Vince protested: "Hey, kid. Look around you, all right? WCKD just kicked our ass."

Frypan pursed his lips as he too stood up, he and Newt metaphorically and literally torn between sides as Vince argued from one side to Thomas on their other side: "You think about where you're headed?"

"I'm not asking anyone to come with me." Thomas shrugged, but Newt chimed in as he stated seriously: "Thomas, listen to me. I've known Minho for... for as long as I can remember."

He took a few steps closer to Thomas to the boy as he said firmly: "So, if there's _any_ way we can help him, trust me, I will be up there standing next to you. But _this_ , what you're talking about... is impossible."

"More like suicide."

They looked to the side to see Jorge and Brenda had been listening in, and the pair came up to join the group as they spoke.

Thomas just nodded as he answered softly: "Maybe, but I know what _I'm_ supposed to do now."

"We." Rachel interjected suddenly, and the others turned to her in surprise. "What _we're_ supposed to do."

"Rach, what are you saying?" Newt asked warily, but Rachel looked right back at him as she answered so everyone could hear: "I'm going with Thomas."

"What?" Vince gaped, and Harriet protested: "Rach, look-"

But Rachel turned to Harriet as she reminded: "They've got Sonya and Aris." She looked at Newt. "And Minho."

She then nodded at Thomas as she said: "I agree with Thomas; we can't let them be left behind. Because if we do, WCKD doesn't just win the fight, the win the battle."

The others paused, frowning, while Thomas nodded in agreement with Rachel.

"It's not just about Minho." He explained to the others, urging them, willing them to understand what he and Rachel did. "It's about all of us. It's about everyone WCKD's ever taken, everyone they _will_ take."

"They'll _never_ stop." Rachel added softly as she looked at Newt. "The Mazes, the needless murder of all our friends then and now, just so WCKD could get what they wanted."

The British youth's brown eyes were thoughtful as he gazed back at her, while Thomas took over as he finished: " _They_ won't stop, so, I'm going to stop them."

He nodded at Rachel as he amended: " _We're_ going to stop them. And," he took a deep breath, "I'm going to kill that Eva Paige."

"Only if you get to her first." Rachel retorted, and a ghost of a smile appeared on Thomas's face though it disappeared quickly.

The others were looking at each other, silently exchanging opinions, before Newt finally spoke up.

"Then I'm going with you too."

Rachel did smile a little at that, especially as Newt took her hand in his as he added a little dryly: "Someone's going to have to look after all you dumb shanks."

Rachel nodded, squeezing his hand gratefully, and Harriet added: "I have to admit. I'd like some revenge."

Vince glanced at the girl before he turned back to Thomas, and finally gave a slow nod.

"Well, that's a good speech, kids." He admitted as he looked between Thomas and Rachel. "So what's your plan?"

The others turned to Thomas and Rachel as well, and the two exchanged looks before a small smile appeared on Rachel's face - though her grey eyes steeled over with determination - and Thomas nodded as his own gaze hardened.

"This is what we're going to do." He said resolutely.

*A/N Thank you to everyone who read and favourited this story, and to those who constantly supported and motivated me by reviewing! I know it took a long time to finish this, but thank you all so much for waiting for me to finish. It meant so much to me, and each of your reviews were so precious. I'm really glad you could enjoy this through to the end with me; but that said, I will be doing a sequel when the next movie comes out, so keep a look out! I hope I'll see you all there when it happens, and once again thank you!


	19. Preview of Sequel

*A/N Many of you have asked, especially since Death Cure came out, if I will be doing the sequel. It's in the works although some ideas need some ironing out so it may take a while. That said, I promise the sequel is on the way: and as a commitment to my promise, here's a small sneak preview!

 **A long time ago, I had a dream**

" _Rachel. Rach!"_

 _Rachel turned in surprise as Thomas sprinted up to her._

" _Thomas?" She asked, confused. While the two were sort of friends (or as close to friends as two people not in love who had designed Mazes to kill other children in the search of a cure for the Flares could be), it was highly unusual for Thomas to seek her out. He was always with Teresa and Rachel noted that the dark-haired girl was nowhere in sight now as Thomas came up beside her which made this even odder._

 _And then she saw his face._

" _Thomas, what's wrong?" Rachel asked, alarmed by the intensity of his expression as he glanced around quickly to make sure they were alone._

 _He looked back at her with serious brown eyes, and his next words changed Rachel's world forever._

" _Rachel, I need your help."_

 **I dreamt of a world where peace existed beyond sleep**

 _Rachel turned away from the screen where yet another girl was screaming as she was brutally skewered and then torn apart by the 'Grievers'. And for what? They were no closer to finding a cure and it had been two years already. Two years, and many, many more deaths. Many pointless deaths. Unnecessary._

" _Is everything alright, Rachel?"_

 _Rachel took a deep breath before looking up at their leader. At the woman behind the Maze Trials._

" _Everything is fine, ma'am." She replied, and Ava stared at her for a moment, not unkindly. Finally, the older woman nodded._

" _Remember, Rachel." Ava murmured. "WCKD is good."_

" _Yes, ma'am." Rachel answered heavily._

 _But for once, Ava's words did little to lift her weary spirits. She was tired; sick and tired of it all: the Mazes she had helped create. The creatures she had created. The deaths of all those girls. The monster she had made of herself._

 _She had a feeling she wasn't going to be sleeping tonight. Again._

 **Where people could smile and have hopes for tomorrow**

"Well," Rachel joked as she grinned up at the boy whose arms were wrapped around her waist. "This _is_ the stick who led us to the Right Arm based on a ghost story."

"Nah," Newt corrected. "That was all Jorge. Tommy was the bloody shank who passed out drunk in a drug den."

Rachel laughed.

 **Where children could be children**

Rachel kissed Newt on the cheek, but he caught her hand as she made to go.

"Just one." He murmured before he leaned down and kissed her.

Rachel returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer by the hips.

They finally pulled back slightly and Rachel opened grey eyes to stare into darkened brown that reflected the deep hunger that had stirred in both of them.

"Maybe just one more."

 **But that was a dream**

The four teens stood together at the edge of the cliff, staring at the walled city that they somehow had to find a way into.

The irony was definity not lost on them, and Newt was not afraid to point it out.

"Three years we spent behind walls, trying to break out." The Brit said dryly. "And now we're trying to break back in."

 **And reality...**

"I'm driving." Rachel announced as she turned and started to clamber into the driver's seat of their _borrowed_ jeep.

"All right, then I get shotgun." Newt added as he moved to open the door opposite Rachel's.

Thomas shook his head while Frypan hid a smirk.

 **Is a b*tch.**

"DO SOMETHING!" Thomas yelled as the Crank on their windshield snarled and snapped its jaws at them.

Rachel suddenly stomped on the brakes, causing the jeep to come to an abrupt and screeching halt. The Crank went flying off, rolling in front of them, and Rachel shoved her foot onto the gas pedal.

With a horrific shriek and too-clear crunch, the jeep drove right over the Crank. Rachel didn't let up on her speed as she raced them onward while the three boys sat in a moment of stunned silence.

"Well," Newt spoke at last. "That was something."

Rachel almost smiled, as did Thomas. Frypan chuckled, but their moment's levity wore off almost instantly as Thomas yelled suddenly, "LOOK OUT!"

 **Reality isn't fair**

"Minho!" Thomas yelled as they sprinted down corridor after corridor.

Another light sparked and flashed as a stray bullet bounced off a metal beam and hit it, and Rachel yelped as she avoided the falling pieces while trying to dodge the bullets that continued to come at them. Now she really wished she had a gun to fire back at the a**holes.

"Rach!" Newt yelled, grabbing her hand and hauling her out of the way just as a bullet smashed a hole into the wall where Rachel's shoulder had just been.

Newt fired back at the soldiers chasing after them, before Rachel tugged him along again.

"We have to keep moving!" She urged. Newt took off with her and they raced after Thomas, who was running ahead of them as they continued their search.

"MINHO!"

 **And if you think things can't get worse...**

"Please, Tommy. Please."

 **You're still dreaming.**


End file.
